Blurred Lines
by TubbyFishy
Summary: Armada Verse - The arrival of two femmes into the ranks of Autobot and Decepticon further intensifies the on-going war. While one faction trusts their new ally, the other faction despises her. Harmless by nature but combative when crossed, how will both factions cope with their new members without jeopardizing their cause and ambitions? [Focuses on all Autobots and Decepticons]
1. Fallen

Note - Hi everybody, this is TubbyFishy and this is my first story about Transformers. I recently watched Transformers Armada and I thought of this story. Anyway, this story will follow the anime with a bit of added twists here and there. There is 2 femme OC's in this story just so you know. I am going to try to write something different so these OC's will come to life on their own. But, I want to thank you for giving this story a read.

As for the tone of the story, my aim is to make it darker than the anime. I would like to explore the possibilities of realism and how it affects the characters, including the two OC's. While there will be light-hearted comedic moments, there will also be dark, depressing moments as well so keep a look out for those!

Thanks again for reading! =)

Disclaimer – Transformers belong to Hasbro.

* * *

**Fallen**

"_So, this is your objective for this mission."_

"_Yes, I know what I must do," Replied a softer, yet tender voice of the being hidden within dark shadows. "I understand."_

_There was a long pause, followed by a low rumbling voice. "Just promise me one thing: Please return back whole, my child."_

Maybe the skies were silent that night when the children sat up on the mountain staring into the endless sea of stars and planets beyond the moon's horizon. It was a quiet night without the sound of crickets interrupting the simple moment. Today was just another day helping their friends from another planet called Cybertron, a mechanical planet hidden past galaxies unknown to the rest of humanity. Much of the planet remained an enigma except secrets revealed to three children who sat watching the stars. Though for the children, they thought everything was normal just like any other day though this time; things might just begin with a bang.

"That creep!" Carlos snapped, throwing several pebbles down the hill. "I can't believe he did that!"

"Yeah…" Alexis said removing her auburn fringes from her eyes.

"I still can't believe what he did! Back stabbing Hot Shot like that! And us!" Carlos added, leaning back onto the rock and stared into space, literally. "Just thinkin' about this just makes my blood boil!"

"I know it's hard on all of us, Carlos, but there's nothing we can do except hopefully regain control of the Star Saber…" Rad looked up into the sky and caught his attention to two shiny objects. At first, he rationalized there was nothing wrong watching stars glittered side by side. Well, they weren't stars but they were gaseous fumes which formed a gaseous barrier and reflected as stars, in relevant human terms. He knew it was _nerd_ talk. Rubbing his eyes, he squinted harder, concentrating on what his eyes were focusing on. Slightly perplexed, the blonde muttered, "G-Guys… I think you should look up."

Puzzled, the other two looked up. They watched two bright orbs, one red and blue clashed against one another. The children watched in awe, ignoring the fact there was a battle right above their heads. Strings of red light shot and wrapped around the blue orb tightly like a snake's coils. Suddenly, smoke ejected from the blue ball.

"Guys… what just happened?" Carlos asked but nobody dared to answer what they all had witnessed.

The children watched the red orb in the sky hover side by side. It felt as if the red ball was satisfied by the blue sphere's defeat. Within an instant, the red ball shot out of earth's atmosphere and into the black unknown.

All eyes were fixed upon the descending blue orb covered in a blanket of red fire entering the atmosphere. Then it suddenly struck them; whatever it was, _it_ was heading toward them!

All three snapped out from their daze and quickly scrambled off the peak into a nearby cave as the sound of rocks crashed echoed. With ears tightly covered, the ground shook; rocks crumbled silencing the children's screams. Oh, how they wished Highwire, Sureshock, and Grindor were here! Suddenly, everything fell deaf; no more rocks rolled off the mountain and no more cracks appeared in the ground. Feeling quite safe, Rad inhaled gently and stuck his head outside scanning the perimeter. Sensing it was safe, he motioned the other two to come out. Though quite shaken, the Latino boy complained how they could have been buried alive! He was also glad Fred wasn't here with them. If he were here, the children would die from Fred's constant bawls. That alone was traumatizing.

As the dust settled, the children climbed back to the peak as eyes traveled along the line of bruised dirt and fire down the mountain and into the desert below.

"Well, what should we do guys?" Rad asked.

He was curious what fell from the sky. He was sure it wasn't some kind of comet or meteor either. He _knew_ that comets or meteors do _not_ glow blue or red. With curiosity getting the best of him, he motioned Carlos and Alexis to follow and investigate the crash site. Along the trail, pieces of smoldering metal protruded the melted earth covered in thick green ooze mixed with gaseous fumes. With noses covered, the children inched closer toward the crash site with mouths gaped open.

"I think this is alien," Alexis said, pointing out the obvious. "What is that thing? It's huge!"

She directly referred to the large metallic pod-shaped like mass buried into the ground. Oh, it was alien but the question remained, what _type_ of alien was it? The children were convinced it wasn't the stereotypical alien with long faces with big oval-like eyes and slim bodies. Carlos picked up a stick and bravely poked the pod. At first, he received no response but the second poke, he accidently pushed a button. A gush of air passed him knocking him onto his behind. The pod shook with layers of metal slid against one another released green fluid down its sides. The children quickly took several steps away watching the pod rattle from side to side as lights spread through the entire pod.

With another shake, the pod sunk deeper into the ground mixed in toxic waste. The children listened carefully to hissing sounds, gears turning and metallic components scraped across one another before silence resumed. A thud was suddenly heard within the pod followed by two to three more times. Once the thudding stopped, the children paid attention to an opening on the exterior of the pod. A white light snaked out from within followed by what seemed to be digits sticking out of the pod, pushing away the metallic plates. Something was hatching!

Digits were seen; they seemed like fingers! They were not clawed digits but they were fingers, all ten of them! The opening grew wider as metallic plates were pushed apart large enough for whatever was inside to slide out of its coffin. It hacked for a moment with hands supporting itself and moved into a sitting position. Within the cloak of night, nobody could really see what it was until a pair of blue orbs floated in mid-air, focusing on the area around it. It seemed to emit a 'sighing' noise before it was high alert: Something was here with it!

Busted, the children had nowhere to run or hide. The light around the pod suddenly burst out into a white light, blinding the three momentarily. Alexis opened an eye and saw the thing's outline; it looked extremely mechanical. A sudden idea struck her. Though she wasn't sure what it was, she was willing to gamble.

"Stop!" she cried out shielding her eyes from the blinding light. "We are not here to harm you!"

The response? A sentence of unidentified vocabulary produced from it. It fell silent followed by a string of beeps and chirps. It shrugged for a moment before whipped out a gun from subspace on its leg, aimed directly at the children. "#!$^$#!"

The light slowly faded and Alexis said, "Hey… I almost understood that."

Carlos lifted his arm in surrender and swallowed hard, "Dude, it almost sounded like what the Mini-Cons say."

At most on cue, the figure moved with the gun still aimed at the children. By analyzing the spoken language, the figure was able to identify the mother tongue: English. It quickly downloaded a language file and immediately spoke quietly, "You… know the Mini-Cons…?"

"Yeah, we do," Rad replied staring at the figure. He lifted up his arms, motioning his surrender. Alexis followed. "They're our _friends_." He stressed on the 'friends' part.

It was silent for a moment as it tucked away the gun, "Take me to them," it demanded.

"Um…" Though quite unsure of what to do, Rad pulled out Laserbeak from his pocket. The small mechanical device unraveled itself into a bird. It quickly took off into the skies heading directly toward the Autobot's base. Still quite unsure of what to make of the situation, he thought starting a conversation with the newcomer would be the best idea. "So, um, er…"

Rolling her eyes, Alexis picked up Rad's sentence, "What he _means_ is that what are you? We know you're alien and you're mechanical."

The alien beeped for a moment before it was being replaced by words, "What is it to you?" It asked defensively.

"It doesn't seem it look like any of the Transformers," Carlos said with hands behind his head. "Maybe this one is different?"

Intrigued, it quickly bent down toward the kids and asked, "You… know the Transformers?"

"Yep, we do. Are you a Transformer too?"

Though not the answer they expected, a sudden burst of light temporarily blinded the children. As quickly as the light came, it vanished. The children blinked for a few moments to realize they were alone. Rad and Alexis looked at each other before their gaze landed on Carlos.

The Latino shrugged, "Don't look at me! I didn't do nothin'!"

* * *

The figure reappeared close to a military base with optics scanning each vehicle suited for its body mass and quite frankly, its style. With optics locked onto a fighter jet, it scanned each detail and downloaded data into its memory banks. Satisfied, its body glowed with wing projections extended toward both sides followed by other bits and pieces of the jet. It didn't take long for the entity to be adorned with the jet's components. With that finished, the alien placed back its helm and optics moved to the east, sensing three organisms appearing in the darkness.

Rustling from the east, the three children stood there in awe and examined each detail of the bipedal alien. Standing in front of them was a black and metallic blue Transformer with wires hanging at the back of its head. Quite oddly, the wires were neatly tied into a long braid, a trait very unusual for robots. The robot had two jet-like wings attached to its back but it also had another set of wings that drooped down. The jet's thrusters were located behind the legs around its ankles and its chest, legs, and arms supported an extremely thick layer of metal to protect it from damage. Though, there was one thing out of the ordinary; the entity's frame was slightly more streamlined and petite than the Autobots. In simpler terms, some parts appeared… 'Feminine.' Emphasizing on 'feminine.' Weird.

"I believe you caught me," It muttered in a feminine voice. "Strange, why aren't you earthlings running away from me like they show in… um, te-le-vi-sion?"

"Whoa! You're voice! I mean… No way! That's a stereotype!" Carlos laughed (though he was quite shocked to hear such a soft voice). "Besides, we've seen stranger stuff."

It tilted its head and commented flatly, "Hm, you earthlings are strange,"

"So you are a Transformer. I guess you're a female Transformer?" Alexis asked. Frankly, the children had no idea Transformers even had a second gender category! This _was _exciting! No, scratch that; _super _exciting!

"Precisely. How did you know that anyway?" Now it was plain curious.

"Well," Alexis stopped for a moment when Rad nudged her on her side. Turning to the blonde, she whispered, "What?"

"I think… We should find out if she's bad or not." Rad whispered softly. "You know, just to make sure."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Rad! Get rational! If she wanted to blow us up then, she would have!"

"I know, I know! But she was scared then! So far, I don't think she would do anything to us! We didn't do anything to her yet!"

Ignoring him, Alexis turned her attention back to the newcomer, "It's not safe to talk here. Let's go somewhere else."

The children and the newcomer returned to the crash landing site. The pod was missing. Alexis guessed the pod melted from the intense heat caused by the collision. There was barely anything left other than pieces of metal and wires and liquid gunk. Yuck. The robot leaped into the exposed hole and picked up a transmitter and stowed it away in a sub-space compartment on her leg. She looked down at the kids to resume 'conversation'.

"So, what's your name?" Rad asked.

"Sirus."

"It's nice to meet you, Sirus. My name's Rad. And this is Carlos and Alexis."

"It's nice to meet you, earthlings."

"No, no. Don't call us that!" Rad laughed. Aliens were funny.

Confused, Sirus replied, "Why not? You _are_ earthlings."

"Yes but you don't go around calling us that. Call us by our names!"

"Oh," Sirus tapped her helm. "Is this earth tradition?"

It was before Rad replied, Laserbeak returned with a message. With the kids informing the Autobots of the newcomer, Optimus approved of Sirus's entrance into the base. With cheerful joys and out-of-context high fives, the kids relayed the message to Sirus, who seemed a bit afraid after hearing the news. Alexis ensured her the Autobots were friendly and were really dependable… unlike the Decepticons; Alexis had to mumble the last part to herself.

* * *

Leading the femme into the Autobot base, Sirus felt the tension in the air; she felt as if she was being watched. Glancing up, she located a myriad of security cameras hidden in corners and crevasses. She was unsure what the others would think of her, suddenly 'dropping' in without an insignia or a mission. She sighed slightly and continued walking forward with hopes to not squish the fleshlings with her sharp heel. When the large doors slid open, as expected, all optics was on Sirus. Feeling the tension, she stepped forward.

_I better make a good excuse why I'm here… _Sirus stepped forward and saluted Optimus, "Sirus reporting sir!"

She felt like an idiot saying that, knowing she was no soldier. She thought maybe with her medical background, Sirus believed she could be useful to the Autobots. Back on Cybertron, she worked as a medic. The room was silent. Feeling the tension again, she took a couple of steps back with her head dipped forward. How she wanted to just disappear into thin air just about right now.

Breaking the silence, Rad said, "We found her outside the base. She crash-landed in her… Pod-like thingy and well… You know the rest."

"I see." Optimus looked at the femme before asking, "So, why exactly are you here?"

"_Ugh, I knew it._ Well, sir, I was patrolling Earth's atmosphere before I was pulled in by Earth's gravitational force. During my mission, I was attacked. My engines were damaged which forced a crash landing._ Yeah, lovely entrance by almost frying myself up in that contraption…_"

"Patrolling?"

"Yes, sir. My mission from my superior mentions I should investigate the planet 'Earth' for Mini-Con beacon signals. We're a colony dedicated to aiding the Autobots in liberating the Mini-Cons from the Decepticons. We were established in secrecy, sir."

"I see… What is your status? And who is your superior?"

"I am not obliged to share that data. They are strict orders which I swore an oath. Please do not worry, he is also an Autobot. About my status, I am a medic. I hope to offer my services in aiding you in your quest and in repairs, sir. Also, I am here to give you all a warning." Sirus said darkly. She tapped on her forearm as a panel appeared. She pushed a couple of buttons and via wireless signals, the central computer booted up and displayed an image of another femme. "I have come to warn you about a femme named Virus."

Everybody turned their attention to the screen. The children looked amongst each other. The quietness was interrupted for a moment as the Mini-Cons entered the room. Highwire, Sureshock, and Grindor paused for a moment their optics landed on the screen. Immediately, beeps echoed forcing all three Mini-Cons to run around in circles. Rad asked if something was wrong. Followed by a paragraph of indistinguishable beeps and chirps, he was able to decrypt only some sentences, translating the rest to the Autobots.

"Highwire says that Virus is a _very_ dangerous Transformer," Rad looked at Highwire again followed by more beeps. "He says that although she seems harmless, she's very deceiving."

"Is she a Decepticon then?" asked Carlos. Seems legit.

"What do you think?!" Sirus snapped and quickly regained her composure after frightening the boy. Softening her gaze, she said, "I apologize but yes, she is one. Cold Energon runs through her."

"So what makes her so dangerous?" Optimus asked. He tried to remember if any Cybertronian records mentioned Virus but nothing came to mind. Then again, he shouldn't be surprised either; there were many other Transformers he didn't quite know about either.

"I hate to break it to you but Virus has special abilities concerning the Mini-Cons," Sirus pressed another button. A new image of Virus appeared on the screen commanding the Mini-Cons. "She can momentarily brainwash and controls the Mini-Cons using a low-frequency wave. The Mini-Cons, unfortunately, succumb to her so-called 'songs'."

"_Songs? _It seems like she sings. Have you actually heard her sing?" Alexis asked quite curious. She had never heard of abilities like this before knowing they were quite impossible to begin with.

"I heard her sing once." Sirus turned to the humans, "It's similar to your human myth: The Siren. She sings attracting sailors and then drowning them in cold blood."

"So, how come she looks like you?" Rad probed, pointing to the projection.

Sirus stared daggers into Rad. The blonde almost caved in under the stare. "Because she's my twin sister. But please, rest assured, we are _nothing_ alike. I swear it in Primus's name."

Silence. No Transformer, human, or Mini-Con spoke for a minute.

Sirus spoke again, "As I previously mentioned: I wish to aid you in your fight with the Decepticons and Virus. Because I know her very well, I believe I may be your greatest asset."

Optimus turned to his men. With an approving nod from the rest, except Hot Shot, he said, "I welcome you to the team, Sirus. The more help we get, the better. Starting tomorrow, I want you to report at nine in the morning to the Med Bay and help Red Alert with the repairs. Do you think you can do that?"

With a bow, Sirus replied, "Yes sir."


	2. Femme

**Femme**

Demolisher wasn't sure on how to deal with the mechanical contraption that rudely exploded into his quarters during his recharge hours. Sure, he landed face first from the impact, waking up almost immediately to the sound of unpleasant static ringing through his audio receptors. Somehow, something told him he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. It was in the middle of the night, for Primus's—wait, it's always night in space. Suddenly, the lights on the central control system went into overdrive, blaring high-pitched alarms echoing through the base from an incoming transmission. The tank wasted no time rushing over to the main computer terminal in the central room with optics scanning for the incoming transmission. Wait a minute, the terminal was off. Curious, he booted it up. With buttons pressed initiating a scan, the computer terminal returned with no results; the system was not hacked, and security was at maximum.

_I swear I heard the transmission. Maybe my circuits are fried or something… _

Annoyed, he powered down the console and returned to his quarters. As he entered, something was different with his quarters: Something was amiss. The hole in the wall: Check. The floating debris: Check. The thing that crashed into his room: Gone. With debris scattered and afloat, Demolisher walked toward the hole and stared into space; nothing was there except the moon's canyon under his feet. Was he dreaming? Knocking the side of his head a couple of times, he wasn't dreaming. Feeling watched, Demolisher whipped around now greeted with the tip of a blade hovering over his right optic.

"Hello, scrap heap," An unknown voice greeted. He grunted, feeling the intruder nudged him, "Go on, and take me to your leader and friends."

He complied, turned around with arms lifted showing his surrender to the intruder walking behind him with a blade jabbed into his back. _Who on Cybertron is this?_ He thought and walked through the open hallways. Reaching the throne room, the rest of the Decepticons were present. Before Demolisher was able to do anything, he was shoved onto the floor.

"What's wrong with you, Demolisher?" Cyclonus cackled, "Feeling the rust are we?"

"Why you…" The tank mumbled before his face was shoved onto the steel floor. "Get this thing off me!"

"Get what off you? Your rusted bolts?!" Cyclonus's joke was abruptly silenced by a shot, slightly charred his helm. "My head!"

"Don't you think you had enough fun for today?" Sideways interrupted, "It's about time you revealed yourself."

Everybody heard the sound of someone saying, "Oh ho-hum. Copy that."

Out of nowhere, the Decepticons watched as blue optics materialized in mid-air, followed by the rest of the body. The Transformer was revealed as a petite-sized femme, colored in navy blue, white, with red streaks along its arms and legs. She was approximately a head shorter than the tank. Looking around the room, it seemed as if the Decepticons hated her already. Figures.

Cyclonus fell on his aft, pointing out the _very _obvious, "It-It's a femme! W-What's a femme doing here?!"

"Allow me to introduce my personal assistant and the newest addition to the Decepticon cause," Sideways approached the femme, urging her to walk forward. "Gentlemen, I present to you, Virus. As she demonstrated earlier, Virus has stealth capabilities, and I believe her additional assistance aid our cause against the Autobots. Virus, why don't you introduce yourself properly to the rest of the Decepticons?"

She nodded and turned around meeting many pairs of optics. Bowing respectively to her new cheery comrades, she said, "My name is Virus. I was trained under Shockblast, and I served his right-hand bot back on Cybertron."

"**Shockblast?!**" Demolisher couldn't believe it. She was his right hand?! Impossible! Shockblast would have terminated her without question. Shockblast eliminated _everything._ That included mechs, femmes, and sparklings alike.

Virus turned to the tank. "Shockblast trained and taught me everything he knew in his processor. However, when Shockblast was captured, I fled to one of the hidden Decepticon colonies underground." Virus suddenly dissolved and materialized behind Cyclonus with a blade against his throat, "Once Sideways summoned me, and I came."

"So… _Virus_, what else can you do?" Megatron interrupted. The idea of a femme repulsed him greatly, especially if she was dead weight.

"Please allow me to illustrate."

Virus quietly turned towards the door and stood motionlessly. The Decepticons listened to Virus release a high-pitched whistle. Sideways grunted. Suddenly, hordes of Mini-Cons flooded into the room, forming a line in front of Virus followed by a salute. The Mini-Cons unleashed a wave of beeps and chirps (followed by the inevitable bodyslam after the introductions). Counting them, she realized several other Mini-Cons were missing.

"Hey, good to see you too! But where's the others?" Virus looked around and released another whistle. The sounds of roaring jets amplified in the hallway before a large boom slammed into the throne room. The three Star Saber Mini-Cons dismantled and fell into Virus's arms.

Sideways turned to Megatron, "She has the ability to communicate and control the Mini-Cons by using a unique frequency, sir. I thought her skills will come in handy in our search."

Another whistle followed. All Mini-Cons aimed their weapons at Demolisher and Cyclonus, showering the two with ammo. The two Decepticons ran in circles, avoiding the shots but only to be tackled with more shots. Another whistle followed, and the firing ceased. Another whistle followed, dismissing all the Mini-Cons except the Star Saber Mini-Cons. Megatron scowled at the femme. Annoyed, he dismissed his men but requested an audience with Virus. Both didn't speak for the longest time, knowing the rest of the Decepticons hid behind the door frame, with audio receptors cranked to high, waiting for what the newcomer had to say.

"I suppose you're not just here to serve under my command, Virus." he began.

Virus turned around, "You're wrong, my Lord. I was summoned to serve."

"Don't you think you're a little late for that?" he called over the Star Saber Mini-Cons. All three Mini-Cons stood at his feet, "With this sword, we're winning against those accursed Autobots."

Virus had to chuckle, "You humor me, my Lord. I supposed that hasn't changed at all."

Then, there was silence.

"Since you're here, I expect you to make yourself useful, soldier. If not, I won't hesitate to dismantle and rewire you to fulfill your purpose. I hope you remembered who ordered to reformat you, Virus."

"You did." Virus answered. Virus eyed Megatron with disgust, "Because of you, I only have fragments of my memories before serving you and Shockblast. Make no mistake, I am here to serve under Sideways and not _you_."

Abruptly ending the conversation, the femme respectively bowed and left, marching away from the throne room. Clenching her fists, Virus stormed past Demolisher and Cyclonus found them pressed against the wall. The two mechs immediately pretended they were talking with one another, hoping to fool the femme. Eying them for a moment, she continued to walk past them, now engaged in her own thoughts. It infuriated her to accept fragments of her memories were gone. She tried to recall them, but no matter how much she tried, her files were locked or corrupted. Rapidly shaking her head, mourning her lost memories would do her no good; it was pointless to dwell on the past. Dwelling wouldn't bring her memories back. Focusing straight ahead, Virus cleared her head to remember why she was summoned by Sideways in the first place; to conquer and destroy.

* * *

About half an hour earth hours later, Demolisher concluded the tour of the base. He hesitantly took the job when no one else desired to volunteer. In all honesty, there wasn't much to look at. What was there to see? Debris? Space? Stars? The hovering planet beneath them?

Virus followed Demolisher into one of the empty rooms. "This will be your new quarters." The tank pointed into the room in question.

Virus looked around the place, and there was absolutely _nothing_ except walls… and holes in the walls. There was absolutely no windows, tables, or a decent lighting source. At the back of her mind, she questioned how was she supposed to operate? Make her own light? Shaking her head, this was highly unacceptable; on Cybertron all rooms owned by military personnel were fully equipped with computer consoles, a chair, a table, a lamp, and a recharge berth. By the grace of Primus, it was more than enough to ask for during the war. Virus faced Demolisher and frowned. Demolisher chose to ignore the femme's semi-piercing gaze and turned around, leaving the femme to her own devices. Looking at the vacant room then at the disappearing tank, an idea sparked in her mind and most likely, it was an idea he would not approve.

About thirty minutes later, Demolisher facepalmed. He never expected Virus to be in his quarters _again _and this time, he was locked out of his room. He rammed into the door several times before Virus opened the door, innocently staring at him.

"Yes?" she murmured. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Furious, Demolisher barked, "Hey, this is my room! Get out of there!"

"I'm sorry, but it's mine now. Why don't you take that room you showed me earlier?" Virus suggested. "Of course, you don't need any comfort while I do."

"Listen here, femme! You can't just push me around! I—" The door slid shut in his face.

Enraged, Demolisher kicked the door and worsened the situation; he instead, maimed his own foot. Mumbling Cybertronian curses under his breath, the tank screamed as loud as he could believing the door would open. Nope. Slumping forward, Demolisher surrendered. Fine. Virus can take the stupid room… There are other empty rooms in the base anyway… They're just not as comfortable as his room. His room!

"Listen, Virus! I'll get my room back one day! You'll see!" Then he kicked the door again only to release a high-pitched, unmanly yelp.

Pressing her head against the door and knocked against it three times, Virus ignored the 'Cons tantrums and focused her energy on rebuilding her room. Turning around, her optics landed on scattered debris and saw clumps of scrap metal scattered in no particular order repulsed her. Emitting a sigh, Virus got to work, picking up every piece of metal she could find then dumping it in the corner. The idea was to solder all the metallic pieces into one sheet before cooling it, ironing it out, and solder it again to the wall. Once that was complete, she'd turn her attention to the broken computer unit pressed neatly against the wall. The screen was cracked, and wires spilled out from its metallic frame, onto the table and keyboard. Well, at least fixing her room would, at least, give her something to do just to kill time.

* * *

Approximately three earth hours later, Virus clapped her hands in victory; the room was clean and orderly! The wall was fixed, the computer was fixed, and most importantly, there was no trace of the earlier debris.

Rejoicing, she was jubilant. Suddenly, she dropped her arms to the side and spun around, "What is it?"

Sideways materialized behind her. "What exactly took you so long?" he asked.

"You know, it's tough to navigate through meteor showers and space weather you do realize," Virus explained, "Besides, I'm here aren't I?"

Crossing his arms, he asked, "Where's the other one?"

"On Earth, as planned." Virus responded. Lowering her voice, she spoke, "We better be careful around here. I don't trust these walls."

"Don't worry about that, Virus. None of them are that smart." Sideways reassured. "Now, tell me, how are you going to gain their trust? Demolisher and Cyclonus could easily be won over with a bit of persuasion."

She shook her head, "I'm not worried about them, to be honest. I'm more concerned about 'Screamer." She had never met him before, but she knew exactly who this 'Con was. She gathered intel about the Decepticon earlier from Swindle until the Mini-Con excused himself to be with his master.

Sideways smirked. "His judgment is clouded. Blinded by loyalty and demanding respect... I can predict quickly there will be falling out with Megatron, no doubt about it." Sideways was about to continue the conversation and immediately fell silent. Turning his head to the door, his sensors picked up an unlikely guest, standing on the outside. "I should go now, someone's outside."

Virus nodded and watched Sideways dissipate into static. Knowing exactly who stood on the other side of the door, she opened it. As expected, it was the grumpy tank.

Still upset, he managed to speak, "Megatron has appointed me to take care of you. Why, I have no idea. Seems like a waste of time watching over some _femme_." Demolisher mumbled the last part to himself unknowingly, fell onto her audio receptors.

Demolisher stopped once a blade was placed right between his optics. Virus hated it when mechs spoke to her in such derogatory manners. It was extremely rude.

She pushed the blade closer, making a minor dent in the metal. "I'm sorry but could you repeat that? I didn't get all of it." Virus spoke firmly. "I don't want to hurt you, Demolisher but does this blade have to invite itself into that mainframe of yours?"

Demolisher swallowed hard and raised his hands in defense, "Hey, I'm just following orders. _Pfft, _fine, I'm sorry I called you _femme_."

Virus retracted the blade back into her arm. "Why did you call me?"

"A Mini-Con has been detected."

"So?" Virus crossed her arms.

Did he need to spell out the obvious? "Go out there and make yourself useful. You're expected to get ready in a hundred astroseconds. Once you're ready, head over to our launch pad. We'll begin our mission right away. Is that understood?"

"Understood."

Demolisher spun around and hastily sped away. Virus's dagger slipped out of her wrist, watching the tank disappear behind the corner.

Narrowing her optics, she whispered, "Don't worry; I'll know how to make myself useful alright. You'll see."


	3. Sirus's Beginnings

**Sirus's Beginnings**

Alarms blared throughout the Autobot base signaling the troops to assemble in the command center. Their newest recruit quickly ran and stumbled into the room unceremoniously and immediately felt the intense burning gaze from one of the resident Autobots. Trying to avoid optic contact with the bright yellow mech, Sirus prayed to the grace of Primus the young Autobot did not have any laser implants in his optics. Shaking her head, she made sure to pay close attention to the screen and its pulsing signal.

Sirus stood in silence, recalling this morning's chat with the human children. They explained to her Hot Shot acted this way because he had 'trust' issues with an ex-Autobot yesterday, one that double-crossed them and went by the name of Sideways. She remembered while exploring the base, she ran into Hot Shot, who immediately turned heel the moment his optics landed on her. There it was again, the way he looked at her expressed his dislike (or distrust) for newcomers. Well, if she were betrayed, she would act the exact same way as Hot Shot. Who wouldn't? The other Autobots didn't seem to question her sudden arrival which was fine with her, but she just hoped that they all understood she wasn't a threat. Sirus wasn't Virus. She wasn't a calculative, killing machine with a serious dose of tunnel vision whose existence was justified by pleasing superiors and deeming herself a worthy warrior. Sirus shook her head.

The main monitor lit up displaying the vast desert. Only a couple of cacti were in sight, and the sun was high in the sky, scorching the sand. There was not a single definitive structure in sight other than a tall, rectangular-shaped rock plateau sticking out like a sore thumb. The Mini-Con signal transmitted signals from the North West direction and judging from its constant movement, one could only theorize the Mini-Con was on the move. Nobody wanted to assume the Decepticons had already grabbed their prize.

Sirus's optics focused onto the moving signal before a gut feeling forced her to speak, "I think we should go investigate."

Optimus caught on, fearing the worse. "Agreed. Let's head out men," The Autobots rushed to the launch gate hoping to retrieve the Mini-Con before the Decepticons got to it.

* * *

Today was the first time the Autobots saw double. Arriving on the scene, the Autobots immediately engaged in battle with the Decepticons. The Autobots, however, found out they were late in retrieving it. Sirus was the first one to break away from the group and looked up the moment her audio receptors picked up the sound of a high-pitched melodic whistle coming from the east. Turning her head, her optics narrowed at her sister who already had the Mini-Con in her possession. There, she sat at the edge of the rock plateau, swinging her legs like some youthful youngling. Clenching her fists tightly, her attention moved to the mech standing beside her; it was Sideways.

"**Virus!**" Sirus yelled. "**Give back that Mini-Con! You don't have rights to own it!**"

Like Virus would listen. The femme shrugged. The Autobots turned their attention to the newcomer. It was as Sirus described, Virus was identical to her in every way, minus their color palettes. The Autobots immediately raised their weapons at her. Scavenger crossed his arms.

"Well, well, well. I see you're still alive," Virus chirped gleefully, patting her newly acquired mini robot, she continued, "I thought you perished into space dust by now. Better luck next time, right, Sirus?"

Sirus's fists tightened watching her sister smirk.

Suddenly a shot was fired, "**SIDEWAYS, YOU CREEP!**" Hot Shot exploded.

Virus faced Sideways, shrugging dismissively. Looking away from the raging Autobot, Hot Shot was itching to fire another round. Sideways must **pay** for his betrayal. Staring into Sideways' optics, Hot Shot cursed himself for being stupid and naïve; of all the bots he met, he had to trust Sideways, a drifter, a Decepticon. Curling his fingers, if only he had known earlier Sideways would double-cross him, he wouldn't have trusted him in the first place. But, then again, how would anybody know Sideways's goal was to backstab him and the Autobots? Hot Shot blamed himself; everything up until this point was mostly his fault. Shaking his head, but he tried to justify everything was not entirely _his _fault; it was Sideways' fault as well! The young Autobot shook in rage, recalling the moment he was betrayed before he was severely punished by Demolisher and Cyclonus. He was lucky he returned alive.

Amused by the Autobot's flaring temper, Virus faced the enraged Autobot, "Do you have a problem with my comrade here?"

"**What's it to you?!**" Hot Shot fired another shot, aimed at Sideways's head. The femme swiped her hand in mid-air, erecting a force field that immediately extinguished the shot. "**What?!**"

Virus narrowed her optics. "Don't you even think of harming him,"

Throwing a dagger at in front of Hot Shot's feet, the gesture was a mere warning. Sideways scoffed at Hot Shot's bubbling anger. Aww, did he upset the little baby bot by backstabbing him? One by one, the Decepticons retreated leaving Sideways and Virus to look down at Hot Shot. Whispering to Sideways, the mech acknowledged her message and returned to the moon base, leaving Virus behind. The lone femme scanned her optics at the rest of the Autobots, those good-for-nothing goody-two-shoe robots whose aim was to bring peace and prosperity on Cybertron. That turned out well, didn't it? Cyber City, their capital, along with Mini-Con villages were in ashen ruins now overrun by Decepticons. The Autobots did a fantastic job at protecting their city and their populace. Last time she heard, most of the civilians were enslaved or melted for scrap metal. Some survivors were killed on-site, and femmes were transported to underground facilities. Sparklings were either destroyed or reprogrammed to become Energon-thirsty warriors. Oh, and let's not forget during the war, some of the executions were carried out by Shockblast and Virus and a handful of Decepticon Generals. It was glorious.

Virus's optics landed on Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, followed by Red Alert, Smokescreen, Scavenger, Sirus, and Hot Shot. Tch, nothing but a bunch of useless metal pawn pieces.

Recalling the dagger back into her wrist, the femme issued out a warning directly to Hot Shot. "If you're going to harm Sideways, you'd better consider the fact you have to go through _me_ first."

And just like that, she was gone.

* * *

Back at the base, Optimus requested a meeting with Sirus who needed to do _much_ explaining after their recent encounter with the Decepticons and the one called Virus. In the meeting room, Sirus stood with interlocked fingers and twiddling thumbs, thinking about what to say. The door suddenly slid open with Scavenger entering with arms crossed and quite frankly, unimpressed. Sirus lowered her head, optics cast on the floor. She sighed for a moment before he spoke.

"Before Optimus arrives, I want you to answer a few questions."

"Yes, sir…"

"Why is your sister siding with the Decepticons?"

She knew it. She knew Scavenger was going to ask her this. Shaking her head, she replied, "I don't know, sir."

Rubbing her arms, Sirus felt Scavenger's intense stare as he was known to do when she and Virus were mentored by him. Well, technically, Virus was mentored by Scavenger, not Sirus. Still, the mech played a significant role in their lives during the war; he taught Virus how to properly fight, and he taught Sirus Cybertronian history. Also, Scavenger was generous enough to introduce Sirus to Red Alert, providing him with extra hands in the med bay. Both sisters looked up to Scavenger during their time at the Autobot base because he cared for them more than anybody else did. While others were busy with base-related duties or were sent to war, Scavenger allotted time to teach the femmes or at least, spend a couple of astroseconds talking with them. Sirus dipped her head; it was without a doubt Scavenger was disappointed to learn Virus joined the Decepticons.

The sound of the hissing door snapped Sirus out of her thoughts; entering the room was Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots. It didn't help when her optics landed on Hot Shot. By the look of things, he continued to seethe. Turning her attention to Optimus, he questioned her about Virus's unnatural abilities.

Formulating a response, Sirus answered, "To be honest sir, I'm not really sure. I've only known her for so long."

"Please elaborate on 'so long,'" Optimus stated.

"During the war, I lost sight of her. As you may or may not be aware, we—or at least, Virus—were a part of the Autobot faction and when the war for the Mini-Cons turned for the worse, she disappeared." Sirus explained, recollecting her thoughts. "A-Anyway, I think the power you've all seen is Virus creating an electromagnetic field."

"Say what?" Hot Shot snapped.

"With an electrical discharge, she applies 'force' on airborne particles, binding negative or positive air molecules. She manipulated the consistency of the electric field. With that said, the constant change in the electrical field generates a force field as you all saw."

"**Impossible!**" Hot Shot roared.

"But you just saw it! Your shot was instantly vaporized the moment it came into contact with the shield!" Sirus argued. With fists tightened, Sirus has the audacity to snap at him, "What on Cybertron is your problem, Hot Shot?! Since I got here, you've been doing nothing but staring daggers at me! For your information, I haven't done anything wrong!"

"**Look what happened the last time we, or rather, I trusted someone. That scum Sideways betrayed ****us,**** and now the Star Saber is with them! Not to mention they gained a new ally!**" Hot Shot exploded. Oh, he wasn't done yet. "**Lo and behold, it's your sister! Keep the good news coming, why don't you?!**"

Sirus clenched her fists. Hot Shot's outburst and irrational mood swings were royally getting to her sensitive wiring. "**Don't associate me with Virus!**" Sirus snarled, "**We're two different entities. Sure, we look ****similar,**** but we're **_**nothing **_**alike! I'm here to help you win against her and the rest of the Decepticons!**"

"That's enough, Hot Shot," Red Alert peacefully interrupted. Placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, he continued, "Sirus is on our side. She's my disciple back on Cybertron. You really have to stop and apologize to her."

Slapping the science officer's hand away, Hot Shot mumbled venomously, "Yeah, whatever…" With those words, he stormed out of the room.

Sirus expelled a sigh. She recomposed herself and turned to the rest of the Autobots, "Sorry. I shouldn't have exploded."

"It's alright Sirus," said Optimus. "He's going through a tough time now. We all are."

Sirus fell silent for a moment before asking, "Is it alright if I return to my quarters? I really don't feel like talking…"

"Alright, dismissed. When you feel like you're ready, you can come and speak to me."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Dropping an aft full of metal onto her berth, Sirus shook her head, enraged by the sudden turn of events. It was always about Virus. Virus this, Virus that. Curling her fists, she released a defeated sigh. Turning to her subspace compartment on her leg, she reached down and pulled out a small rectangular box, fitted with a small screen and knobs. Carefully tuning it, she watched Cybertronian digits and alphabets whizzed across the screen. The device emitted soft crackling sounds as numbers began to rise then fall, then rise… then fall again. Staring at the recording device, she grunted; she was in absolutely no mood to record today's events. What was there to talk about? Her sister? Hot Shot's childish and irrational temperaments? Switching it off, she placed down the gray device beside her and laid down.

Dimming her optics, she scanned through her files, trying to locate the records about when the sisters appeared on the Autobots' doorstep. Sirus remembered being incredibly thankful the Autobots allowed them to seek refuge during the war; civilians had nowhere to go, and many perished in Decepticon raids and crossfires. Sirus and Virus had no intention of becoming scrap metal or Decepticon slaves. They pushed forward, propelled by their will to survive. All Sirus had was her sister and vice versa.

_How long has it been since that day happened? That's over thirty-something million years ago, I think. _

_Sirus remembered the first time she entered the Autobot base with Virus by her side, shaken from the rampaging war echoing around them. They were greeted warmly at the Autobots' doorstep and without an __astrosecond__ to lose, they were welcomed inside. The twin sisters walked through the empty halls, listening to the silence even if there was an intense war waged outside these metallic compounds. The more they walked, the more they realized they were the only two femmes on base. Until now, they haven't come into contact with other female Transformers. Where were they? Were they outside, in the rampaging war, dominated by gunfire? Or maybe they in the medical bay, patching up arms and legs or watching another life pass away?_

_ While the sisters continued following the guard, the walls and floor suddenly rumbled. Sirus immediately crouched __down,__ and Virus shielded her. Drawing a blade from her wrist, Virus scanned the area for the source of the sound. Were they under attack?! Listening to the sound of gunfire, the sisters eventually heard laughter from the guard; why was he laughing?! Gently placing a hand on Virus's shoulder, he explained they were walking pass the training facility. There was no need to be afraid, he reassured. Sirus remembered the guard then asking if the sisters had any weapons. Sirus nodded; she had a small pistol tucked away in her leg. She explained the __weapon__ was only for __self-defense__. Other than that, she wasn't quite good with aiming, let alone, shooting and hitting a moving target._

_ The guard turned to __Virus,__ who ejected who sharp blades from her wrists and beneath her four wings. Virus explained to the mech she and Sirus were engineered as civilians. However, Virus took the liberty to slightly alter her physical form to incorporate weapons to protect herself and her sister; it was the only way to ensure their survival from the Decepticons._

_ The times spent with the Autobots were considered dull at best; Virus was placed on surveillance __duty,__ and Sirus worked in the med bay. Sitting in a chair, Virus's optics scanned each flickering monitor, watching the Autobots stroll through empty hallways, using the recharge berths, or training. The femme was intrigued with recruits training under the mech they call Scavenger. It was rumored he was a seasoned veteran and was highly respected amongst the Autobot ranks. One day, Virus dragged Sirus to one of Scavenger's training sessions. The femmes entered the training facility (much to Sirus's protests) and hid behind large steel containers on the balcony. From above, the twins watched Scavenger instruct the recruits how to shoot moving targets by demonstrating a couple of examples. Standing up, Virus carefully inched towards the railing, intrigued by Scavenger's words of wisdom. Little did she know, she leaned a __bit__ too far and without realizing it, she fell forward. _

"_**VIRUS!**__" Sirus shrieked and bolted out of her hiding place. _

_ Virus instinctively flipped in mid-air and landed perfectly on her heels. And then, there was silence._

"_Oops," Virus said sheepishly and wheeled around to the many optics that bore into her, "I'm sorry, I was watching you guys train and—"_

"_What's your name?" A large framed mech approached her with arms firmly crossed his chassis. __Virus__ turned to him, locking onto his stern features, age-old optics, and sturdy frame._

_She stood up and replied, "Virus."_

_He looked up to the place she fell from and back at her. "That was a long way down… My name is __Scavenger,__ and I run this training facility. That was an impressive save you did there, considering you managed by landing perfectly on your feet. We could always use a soldier like you. New recruits are always welcomed."_

"_Really?!" Her optics lit up brightly. "I'll be honored!"_

_ Many didn't like the idea of a battle-hungry recruit training with them. Many recruits thought Virus wanted attention, (which she did) but she proved herself to be a formidable opponent. During Sirus's free time, she swung by the training facility to watch her sister train with the recruits. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Virus was definitely enjoying herself. Sirus watched Virus jump, dodge, and flip, jump some more, use her weapons, __slice__ here, and shove there followed by the occasional taunt. Every so often Virus's movements would hiccup, forcing Scavenger to pause the training session and instruct her with tips on how to improve her footwork or stances. Virus nodded, taking everything into account. The recruits and Sirus realized Scavenger __has been particularly harsh on__ Virus and never once praised her. __The__ mech continued to push her, forcing her to succeed, and understand the meaning behind combat and why it was done._

_Scavenger was ruthless during the training sessions; no recruits including Virus were spared during their one-on-one sparring sessions. Those who managed to achieve the highest scores faced off with Scavenger at the end of training session. The idea was simple; the first one to knock Scavenger down won __praise__ from the mech. Until now, no one has managed to knock him down or even land a since scratch on his armor. Once the recruits were defeated, Scavenger called for their attention; he reminded the recruits war was not a game. __The__ mech explained simply it was about life, death, and survival in between. Once he relayed his message, they were dismissed._

_When Sirus wasn't at the training center, she was placed in the med bay aiding the injured. She saw the wounds of war and the unsightly sights forced her engines to churn. She worked alongside Red Alert after Scavenger introduced her to him. The mech wasted no time teaching her must-know vital lessons: How to perform Energon transfusions, mold pieces and solder pieces of armor together, replace optics, and so forth. When it came to fixing weapons, Sirus stayed away from it. She knew she would wire something wrong. Her fear of weaponry consumed her. The young femme would imagine trying to rewire or fix the plasma cannon and in the end, it would explode upon the user the moment he left the med bay. This wasn't in her department! Weapons and such were forwarded to Red __Alert,__ who knew what he was doing. Sirus was going to stay with aiding the injured, thank you very much. The main reason why she didn't want to touch weapons was __that__ she was clumsy and a walking disaster. She knew it, Virus knew it, and Red Alert slightly knew about it._

_The only thing wrong with the picture was the fact initiating conversation with him was similar to talking to a wall. What was there to talk about? War? Casualties? The Decepticons? Like Red Alert, work was the only thing that kept her from going insane._

_As time went by, many Autobots, especially the recruits didn't appreciate Virus very much. They would enter the med bay and talk and convince Sirus (through a miracle) talk some sense into her sister into withdrawing from the training sessions. Though __at times__ Sirus had to laugh on what the trainees had to say about Virus._

"_Your sister is has a few screws loose, you know that?" said one of the trainees as he sat on the berth with an arm extended. Sirus nodded, opening up the bot's arm to find loose wires inflicted during training or… from Virus. "She's crazy I tell you,"_

"_Tell me about it. I had to live with her for all these years. Surprisingly I haven't gone insane yet." Sirus chuckled._

_The trainee released a small laugh then followed by a sigh, "There was a mock battle today and was she ever serious. The moment she heard Scavenger's command, she went haywire. Literally."_

"_Well," Sirus said reattaching wires, "She takes combat very seriously. Sadly enough, she loves the idea of battle… It keeps her busy, I guess."_

"_Hmph,__ sounds like a Decepticon to me."_

"_Please don't think like that. She embraces combat because…" Sirus paused for a moment then continued, "She had to defend and fight enemies off when we were younger. You see, both of us are orphans. The only thing we have left is each other. Although, I think she's crazy __too hey,__ she's my sister. I need her and vice versa. I heal her wounds so she can continue fighting for both of us."_

_Well, this was awkward. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"_

_Sirus smiled and closed the arm panel, "It's alright. Well, without her I wouldn't be here! She saved us many times from __Decepticons,__ and I'm grateful for that. And yes, you're right; she does have a few screws loose!"_

_ The two __shared__ a laugh before the trainee returned to his training session._

"_Virus? Virus?" Sirus knocked on the door. "__Hey,__ are you in? It's your turn to take the—" The door slid open. Sirus entered and found an empty berth with a datapad on it. It read:_

_Goodbye._

_ And that was the last time Sirus ever saw Virus. Nobody knew where she went; it was as if she disappeared into thin air. Many thought Virus was a Decepticon spy. Suspicions __arose,__ and many began to think Sirus was a spy as well. Bots who entered the med bay refused to seek help from her and as a result, many began distancing themselves away from her. He tried to convince the Autobots Sirus was no __spy,__ but his words of concern and reason fell on deaf audio receptors. Red Alert had to set them straight many times, but he knew, what was said, hurt. Sirus tried her best to mute their whispers, mumbling about her being a traitor, and __labeling__ her a Decepticon scum. No, they were wrong. She wasn't a Decepticon; she was an Autobot, like them._

_ It was not long after Sirus __overheard__ Optimus and Scavenger discussing Scavenger's departure to spy on the Decepticons by joining their ranks. Sirus hid behind the wall and hoped Scavenger would find Virus before something terrible happened. No, Sirus shook her head, Virus had the tools to survive but what if she fell into the hands of the Decepticons? What if her overconfidence proved to be nothing more than a death sentence? What if she was… dead? So many what ifs, it made her engines churn in anxiety._

_ A day before Scavenger's departure, he entered the med bay requesting to speak with Sirus privately. Scavenger blatantly confronted Sirus about eavesdropping. She honestly didn't mean to! She thought she would get a lecture about the bad __behavior,__ but none came._

"_Don't worry, I'll find your sister for you. She's a strong femme, she can handle herself."_

"_I __know,__ but Virus gets very cocky at times. She thinks Decepticons are toy soldiers."_

_Scavenger weakly smiled at the comment. "Toy soldiers are we? Well, aren't we all?"_

_Latching onto his arm, the young femme pleaded, "Please Scavenger, please find Virus. Find her and tell her to immediately come back! Tell her that I'm going to deliver a well-deserved lecture!"_

_Patting her head, he told her what she wanted to hear, "I promise I'll tell her just that."_

And look what fate did to her; Virus reappeared, siding with the Decepticons. Virus wasn't herself… She was different. On the outside, she looked the same, but she's not the same on the inside. Her sister, once sweet and caring was transformed into a cold, non-caring individual. Sure, there were times she was boastful and annoying, but she would never think of committing crimes or backstab anyone. It wasn't in her nature. What happened to her? Powering down, Sirus prayed to the grace of Primus the deity would protect her sister; the last thing she needed was to lose the only family she had left.


	4. Virus's Beginnings

Note – Hi. Sorry for no updates. Busy life. I hope you enjoy this chapter after many months of nothing.

Disclaimer – Transformers belong to Hasbro.

* * *

**Virus's Beginnings**

"**Virus, hand me the Mini-Con!**" Megatron demanded with his hand extended. Virus scowled, taking a couple of steps back hugging her Mini-Con tightly.

"Nuh-uh. It's mine."

"You dare disobey me? I demand that you hand over that Mini-Con to me, Virus."

"And I'm out right refusing it." As Virus walked away, Starscream barricaded her exit. The femme hated it when mechs did this, pretending to be all high and mighty, using their powers of intimidation. "Move it,"

The red jet was rooted to his spot. "Not until you hand over the Mini-Con,"

Starscream's hand was outstretched, waiting for the femme to drop the Mini-Con into his palm.

"Not in this lifetime, 'Screamer."

Switching on her invisibility powers, Virus switched her boosters on and slowly maneuvered away the jet. Virus made sure her boosters were on low, to avoid detection. As expected, she heard Megatron bark out orders to find her and capture her; the usual stuff. Once Starscream stepped out of the way, she quietly slipped through the door without wasting a single precious bullet.

Virus reappeared in her room hearing an explosion from the throne room. Did he think for one second she would surrender her longtime companion? She maybe a Decepticon but there were no _rules_ that said in fine print she _had _to follow Megatron's orders. The Decepticons followed him out of fear, admiration and die-hard loyalty. She followed him for the thrill of combat and destroying things along the way.

Sitting down on her berth, her longtime friend, Tip-tap jumped down into her lap and thanked her. The femme smiled and gently rubbed the side of Tip-tap's head. It was exactly how it used to be, Virus mused. Tip-tap and Virus went everywhere together; they bonded like family and Virus would do anything in this universe to protect her little flying plane. As strange as it sounded, this rogue Decepticon befriended a Mini-Con.

Suddenly, Virus's audio receptors picked up the sound of small tapping noises from her door.

"Come in," The main door didn't slide open but a smaller door to the right opened. As expected, a line of Mini-Cons marched in: It was the Star Saber Mini-Cons. "What are you all doing in here?"

"_We wanted to see you,"_ Beeped Sonar, _"We were worried that you'd face punishment."_

"Ah, don't worry about it." She waved her hand dismissively, "Those junk-heads couldn't touch me if they wanted to. Speaking of the junk-heads, how are they treating you?"

"_Terrible."_ Jetstorm added. _"They see us as nothing more than weapons. Except Starscream, he treats us with respect. We maybe tools to him but he still views us as Mini-Cons and not weapons. The others are blinded by greed…"_

"That's awful! At least on the bright side 'Screamer's thinking about you all right? I guess that counts." Virus said dimly. "Well, since you're all here, why not sit down and listen to a story? It'll at least put your Spark's at peace for a while."

The Mini-Cons rejoiced as each of them effortlessly climbed onto the table and sat, waiting for the story to begin.

"Well, let's begin shall we?" Virus stretched her arms and placed Tip-tap on the table along with its Mini-Con brothers. Digging deep into her memory files, she began the story.

* * *

_Her memories were clear as day, remembering the first and last time she set afoot off the Autobot base permanently. She wanted to apologize to Scavenger who taught her everything but she had to leave; it was her mission. _

_Virus slid down the hillside, into an abandoned facility. She entered the building, clutching tightly onto her scythe. The facility was noiseless and littered with layers of twisted debris. Keeping her systems at bay, Virus boldly ventured deeper and discovered a large room with broken windows and shattered lights. It seemed it used to operate as a medical facility of some sorts until the Decepticons raided it. How did she know? Plastered on the wall was the Decepticon insignia, etched out in scratches. Shaking her head, she shouldn't allow this to intimidate her. Virus was here on a mission: Infiltrate Decepticon headquarters. _

Easier said than done,_ she thought._

_In order to execute her plan, she required needed a disguise. It was rumored any femmes that were taken into Decepticon territory would come out dead. Virus refused to be another statistic to be added to the declining femme population. Calming her systems, Virus resumed exploring the facility, pointing her flashlight in all directions. By accident, she kicked something. The sound of the object continued to echo down the hallway, rolling across uneven ground and eventually came to a stop. Virus immediately shot her light to the object in question._

"_Hey, it's a paint can." Then, a brilliant idea struck her, "Bingo!"_

_ About an hour later, Virus was covered in black and green colors. She considered herself lucky, being able to find several cans of paint to fulfill her disguise. There was absolutely no trace of her original paint left on her; all colors of navy, black, white and red were coated over. Feeling proud at her newest achievement, the last thing she needed was the insignia. Backtracking to the open space where she first located the insignia, she quickly scanned the insignia. Within seconds, two pairs of Decepticon insignias burned onto each of her wings, the upper and lower wings. As a final touch, she retracted the wires that hung down from her head to complete the disguise. All she had to do now was infiltrate the Decepticon base without being detected. _

_Stashing away her weapon, Virus exited the facility where her audio receptors picked up the sound of sudden footsteps approaching. As expected, Decepticon soldiers found her and immediately questioned her by pointing their rifles at her. Using a voice altering program, Virus changed the sound of her voice to resemble a mech's._

"_Why are you pointing your weapons at me?" Virus raised her arms to show the two scrapheaps in front of her she was a 'friendly'._

"_Designation?!" The brown mech spat, leveling his rifle into her optics._

"_Scout."_

_Suspicious, a gray and yellow mech barked, "What's your name? I've never seen you before!"_

"_Infection. I was assigned by the fourth squad to come back and check for any Autobot survivors."_

"_Hm," The mech thought then shoved the tip of the rifle an inch away from Virus's optic. "How do I know that you're not an Autobot spy?"_

_Offended, Virus spat, "Will you like me to prove my loyalty then?"_

"_Hmm, we'll see about that. Very well, follow me."_

_ The two mechs lead Virus back to the Decepticon base, located in the southern hemisphere of the planet. The entire area was nothing more than a wasteland; broken debris, carcasses, crushed planes and smashed buildings. These were the Decepticon's monuments. She snapped out of her thoughts when the brown mech questioned her if the sight before her 'rumbled with her engines'. Replying with a nod, the mech laughed hoarsely. She cringed, listening to his demented, thwarted laughter._

"_You have guts, Infection. You have more steel bolts than the rest of my crew. You'd make a fine soldier. You've made a good impression on me already. Wait until the others hear about this!"_

* * *

_The Decepticons were on high alert, running through the compound with optics fixed for the sign of the intruder. Mechs in various sizes stormed each room, pointing their rifles to locate the culprit. Alarms blared across the compound with mechs running in all directions. Infection rushed though the charred hallways as fast as she could, stashing away a vital computer chip into her subspace compartment. She cursed herself for being so careless on her mission; by accident she forgot to securely lock the door in the main computer room. She was caught red-handed downloading confidential information. Once the guard sounded the alarm, she charged forward with wires from her head spilling out and drilled into the mech's chassis and released her viral program. Once deactivated, Infection jumped over the mech and headed toward the exit, if there was one._

_ She quickly ran down the hallways pretending she was in pursuit of the infiltrator. Continuing the escape Infection was suddenly showered with lasers from down the hallway. Realizing where it came from, she quickly raised her arms in surrender._

"_What are you doing?! It's me, Infection!" Virus spat, "You almost clipped my wings!"_

_ The mech lowered his rifle for a moment adjusting his optics to the darkness. Heat signatures detected Virus was the intruder but it was too late; Virus's wires drilled into his chassis and tore out his Spark Core. The last thing he saw before completely deactivating was her sick, twisted smile. Quickly downloading a map of the base, she retracted her wires, took his rifle and continued onward. There was no point in going by her alias now. Virus continued running down the hallways, dodging potential threats and blew up walls, making her own exits. Things were looking up for Virus; nobody was on her tail and she acquired all the information she needed._

_ The wall to her left suddenly exploded sending Virus crashing into the adjacent wall. She quickly scrambled to her feet and hid behind a piece of debris and listened. She heard the sounds of tanks rolling, marching footsteps of soldiers and the sound of cocking rifles._

"_**We know you're in there! Step out with your hands in the air!**__"_

_Crap. Well, if they want to play that way, so be it. Virus stepped out with her hands in the air. "I'm out!" she yelled. She took slow steps forward._

"_That's right, keep walking for—__**WHAT?!**__" Virus disappeared from sight. "__**Find him! Drag him by the shackles if you—!**__" The mech stopped and suddenly dropped onto the ground. He didn't move. _

_ The dust around the corpse shuffled. The soldiers showered her with bullets. Pulling out her scythe, she spun it in front of her deflecting the bullets off her blades. Sensing another attack, she pulled her rod apart, transforming the weapon into two sickles she held in each hand. She swung, slashed and stabbed all incomers. She dodged a punch and commanded the wires in her head to come out and tear out his Spark Core. _

_ Quickly, she ran into an enclosed area using the darkness as her ally. Her body armor began to reappear; she could only use her invisibility powers for at least a couple of seconds at most. The technology she possessed was fairly new… and fairly untested. Hiding by the wall, she stood there quietly, recharging her powers._

I can't use invisibility all the time.

_Virus exhaled with a hand over her Spark; it was now or never. She jumped, rolled and skidded out of her hiding place. As she ran, she switched on her invisibility powers. There were at least over a hundred soldiers waiting to bring her down. She spotted an opening in the Decepticon's offensive front. It was now or never. Virus ran toward the opening with sickles on each side of her arm. Blades swung out from beneath her wings and sliced through her enemies, leaving them dead. Her invisibility began to wear off; she had to act fast. Rushing to the opening, Virus believed she was going to make it until her entire frame shook uncontrollably from a stun gun. _

**Frag.**

* * *

_It was probably hours or perhaps days passed since Virus's capture. Virus knew she wasn't dead yet, her Spark continued to flicker but just barely. Her body moved. Not from her but from someone dragging her across the cold ground. Too weak to fight, she let them. Feeling her body suspend in midair, her arms moved on its own accord, lifting themselves up and somehow, hung. Her feet didn't touch the ground. Her wings barely moved._

Maybe my wires are disconnected… to stop me from… escaping…

_Virus continued to slip in and out of consciousness. The sound of rattling chains woke her up followed by an unpleasant sting to her abdomen. _

"_**AH!**__" she cried. Her optics were back online, only to be greeted with an intense search light. "__**TO THE PITS!**__" she cursed._

_ It was uncalled for; the idea of being imprisoned was not part of the plan. Through her sensitive audio receptors, she heard the crowds roaring either with delight or malice; she didn't want to know. Snapping out of her thoughts, she noticed the intense heat from the spotlight began to melt away the paint on her body. The hall grew silent, watching the paint melt right off. Nobody knew exactly what was going on but it was intriguing._

_ A couple of breems passed by, the entirety of Infection's armor was fully exposed in its navy blue, black, white and red palette. The chains around her wrist were untied as the femme fell down onto her knees. She cursed every pit-spawned being in the hall._

_"It's a femme!" One of them gasped._

_"A femme? You fool it can't be!" Another added._

_"You incompetent fools," The voice of a particular mech rumbled through the hall while heavy footsteps walked onto the platform where she was. "She's no ordinary femme. Not by the name of Infection either."_

_"Then?" One of them managed to speak out of utter confusion. "Who is she? Isn't she just another Autobot scum?"_

_"Virus," he said._

I-Impossible. N-Nobody knows my real name_. Virus thought bitterly. Nobody should have known of her existence yet, this mech did; the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron. "Megatron. Let me go."_

_He lifted her chin up. "Maybe I will consider it after you proved yourself worthy."_

_"W-Worthy?" she stuttered._

_"Let's see what you can do."_

_ Before Virus knew it, she was thrown into the large crowd below. Crowds dispersed like ripples of water._

_"If you want to survive, Virus, I suggest you find a way out from that crowd."_

_ Angry mechs decided it was time to play with the 'little' femme. They didn't care if was a twenty on one fight; femmes were rare to come by and slightly considered a delicacy to the optics. Virus had no choice; blades swung out from beneath her wings, ready for battle._

_ Fighting through the mass of Decepticon mechs, she slashed, punched and kicked; she anything she did to regain her freedom. Suddenly, arms wrapped around from the back while the other mech reached for her Spark compartment. Did she mention also that it was part of their personality to force a femme to bond? Stomping her foot, wires shot out from beneath her wings, slithering into her captive mech. Before all knew what she had done, she was released with the mech dead on the ground. The mechs stopped, stepping away from the femme._

_"W-What was that?" A mech spoke, his voice shaken._

_"Hmph. They don't call me Virus for nothing you know. Who's next?!" she demanded._

_ Virus's wires hovered, snaking to find its next victim. The Decepticons had never witnessed such a strange feat. They fought with guns and the occasional sword but using a virus to shut down an enemy completely unheard of. A femme who possessed this much power was something the 'Cons had never encountered before. Through their millions of years being alive, this was a first, even for them. Mechs slowly distanced themselves away from Virus while others stood their ground. With guns aimed at her, she quickly used her wires, injecting them with more viruses. More and more mechs fell onto the ground, deactivated. Their metallic shells changed into a grayish color then black. In the end, they dissolved into space dust._

_ Virus's ice blue optics traveled to Megatron. Without thinking, her boosters activated. She soared through the air with both sickles in her hands ready to deliver the final blow. He didn't flinch; a blur jumped up in the air and forcefully shoved Virus to the ground. Stunned, she was about to release her wires again but this time, everything went horribly wrong._

_ Her body twitched, losing control. Virus's entire mainframe, motherboard and CPU were heavily infested with viruses. Even she wasn't safe from her own weapons. Virus desperately tried to reboot her anti-virus programs but failed. ERROR: 37183Z. Her sensors began to fail her, optics blinked online to offline. Her audio receptors began to fail her until her entire body was locked into shutdown mode. The Decepticons stared at the unconscious femme and the sea of red wires twitching around her. For a couple more seconds, the wires stopped entirely._

_"What are we going to do with the femme Lord Megatron?" Shockblast inquired and carefully picked up the femme. Although the wires had ceased to move, he was being extra careful to not reactivate them by accident._

_"Format her," he spoke gruffly. "Shockblast, I order you to train her to be our greatest asset. We now possess our greatest weapon. We will use her against those accursed Autobots to win the war. Train her well, Shockblast, for she will be directly under your responsibility and supervision. I want her functioning as soon as possible, is that understood?"_

"_Yes, Lord Megatron."_

_ With her optics flickering online, Virus smiled at the Mini-Cons. That was the only part of her memories she retained during her imprisonment. Anything prior to that was lost. Many of them had already gathered by her side asking if she was alright. Petting Runway on his helm, she told them she was alright. After all, she was tougher than she looked. Even so, Virus cast her optics down, she underestimated her own strengths. Tightening her fists, she was angry. About to speak, she heard three knocks from her door. Sliding off the berth, she walked to the door and slightly opened to be face to face with the annoying tank._

"_Yes?" Virus asked._

_Demolisher tried to peek in but Virus was in the way. Clearing his throat he said, "The boss summons you."_

"_Tell him I'm not coming. I want to rest."_

"_Virus, that was a direct—" The door slid close in his face, again. Shaking his head, Demolisher left. There was no bargaining with her. He had to wonder: Were femmes this cruel and complex?_

Virus returned to her Mini-Con brothers and weakly smiled. Bending down Tip-tap, she told him she would be out for a walk. If they needed anything, all they needed to do was call her and she'll be right there within a Sparkbeat. Tip-tap nodded, watching his master turn invisible and disappeared out of sight.

Virus reappeared outside the base staring at the massive planet floating in front of her: Earth. The organic planet was stunning, she thought. The planet was a mixture of brown, green, blue and white. Virus had to wonder: How many more of her Mini-Con brothers were still on Earth, waiting to be rescued? She wanted to rescue them before the Decepticons or Autobots got to them. It was easier said than done now that she was a Deception. Still, she didn't consider herself a lunatic, not yet. She was still Virus. With a hand over her Spark, she sighed.

"If you're out there, please hear me. I miss you so much. I—" Virus collapsed onto her knees, clutching her Spark compartment. Her systems emitted a deafening sound. The virus programs continued to assault from within and her anti-virus programs were battling as best as they could. "Primus, this hurts so… much."

Quickly activating a spare anti-virus program, the viruses were temporarily put on hold for now. She had been battling the viruses for many millennia and it seemed with each passing breem, Virus was getting closer and closer to losing herself, completely.


	5. They Said She Wasn't Good Enough

Note – Hi, new chapter. Sorry for the delay. Lots of things happening… barely any time to update or think of the next chapter properly. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for reading and Happy New Year 2016 :)

Disclaimer – Transformers belong to Hasbro.

* * *

**They Said She Wasn't Good Enough**

_ Virus violently crushed the mech's face with her bare hand after she was shoved and cornered by a mech twice her size. Slumping forward, she heard her engines roaring, combating the viruses coursing through her circuitry and every so often, she heard a soft pop from within. Those 'pops' were the sounds of pressure caps busting open to relieve any built up heat or pressure. She hated it. She hated feeling weak and frail. Curling her hand into a tight ball, she mustered the strength to stand up and gaze down coldly at the weakened mech. It was killed or be killed and frankly, dying was not on her agenda today. The arena fell silent listening to the sound of systems slowly fading into sputtered whirls. Virus comfortably advanced to the semi-finals, defeating mech after mech… Drone after drone. It was exhausting. Many thought Virus was insane taking on mechs twice her size. Well, did she have a choice on who she wanted to combat? Negative. All pit fights were preplanned to ensure Virus, the Decepticon's brand-new toy, was functioning and performing and exceeding all expectation. The entire Decepticon base knew of Virus's unique abilities and perhaps, many gave credit to Shockblast for enhancing her already deadly (and unstable) skills. Virus, in conclusion, was the femme equivalent to Shockblast, just less calculated and possessed raw strength. It didn't matter if she was less calculated than the others; as long as she had the ability to kill, it was the only quality the Decepticons needed._

_Her left optic was now shattered and face contorted, exposing her wiring beneath her once flawless shell. She swayed left to right then stumbled in front of her downed opponent. Mechs watched Virus walk around the mech inspecting her handiwork. Feeling the need to terminate, Virus placed her hands on each side of his head and twisted completely off. Pools of energon leaked onto the punished concrete. She threw the head to the side then stuck her heel right into his Spark Core. He was terminated. _

_Over the course of several hours, Virus terminated over ten mechs in one-on-one battles, consistently ignoring her injuries. Pools of energon gathered around her feet, seeped through the cracks, mixed in with her opponents. Nothing seemed to matter. If they wanted to terminate her that badly, they would have to try first. Of course, 'trying' lead to a painful death. It was Virus's unspoken rule; the femme enjoyed tearing out optics, wires, armor and the likes; she enjoyed listening to their cries for mercy. And perhaps the most pleasant tune to enter her audio receptors was the sound of the Spark flickering, flickering, flickering, then fade into darkness._

_ Virus entered the lockers and waiting by the table was her younger sibling, Sirus. Sirus quickly attended to her injuries. Virus sat on the berth with her arm extended. Sirus quickly opened a panel and to her horror, all circuits were fried. As Sirus worked on the arm, Virus never winced. She continued to stare blankly onto the wall. Each battle was the same, she thought. Every mech tried to either shoot her out of the sky or tear off a piece of her armor. The mech who shattered her optic was clever enough, deceiving her with a hologram. He too was terminated. Virus continued to process, projecting images in her mind ways to torture her opponents. How they continued to think she was just a small 'femme.' Of course, compared to some of them, she was a little drone compared to the behemoths that stood towering over her. They never seemed to understand her small size gave her an advantage in agility. They never seemed to understand that in their primitive processors. _

_ This was a game the Decepticons enjoyed. Within this arena, countless lives were lost to brutality. Only the strong survived and the weak were terminated. Her optics lit up slightly recalling why she was placed in the matches in the first place._

"_Prove yourself."_

_ The arena roared once more as mechs cheered on their fellow comrades. Their cheers were directed at two large Decepticons standing in the center of the arena, towering over the femme. Many eagle-eyed viewers noticed Virus limping on her left leg and many began to hope the two would dismember her… Slowly. Some 'Cons loved listening to femmes screech out in pure agony, feeling their body contorted and wires pulled to their maximum capacity before snapping. The sound of their screams were like a lullaby to them; those sick, twisted bastards. The mechs circled Virus, scanning her from helm to toe, trying to figure out which part they should tear off first. Her wings? Her helm? Or maybe her limbs? There were two of them and there was one of her, surely, she was at a tactical disadvantage._

_ Virus scanned her opponents, trying her best to analyze them, searching for any visible scars or suffered any internal damage. There was none. Curling her fingers into a tight ball, she heard metal grind behind her. She wheeled around, watching one mech pull out a spiked mace. Nobody needed to tell her how maces worked. Perhaps she thought too much, Virus lowered her guard. Her wings drooped signaling an attack by the enemy. The mech behind her launched and attack, grabbing her from behind and caged her in. The femme shrieked, activating Mad Mode. Her energy and energon consumption increased by twenty percent as she tried to muscle her way out. The mech in front of her madly grinned, approaching her before reaching out and grabbed her lower wings. _

"_This will hurt." The mech sneered._

_ In one mighty yank, Virus's lower wings were torn from her frame then tossed to the side. _

"_My wings!"_

_ The mech was in no way done; moving his hands to the upper pair of wings, they were mercilessly torn from her frame, rendering her flightless. The mech that held her dropped the femme onto the ground and spun her to deliver a forceful fist to the gut. Energon splattered out onto his hand and onto the ground. The mech then shoved Virus into the ground, face first, then ceremoniously stomped her into the ground. The sound of crushing metal echoed across the arena. Sirus winced, feeling Virus's pain coursing through their sisterly bond. The young femme continued to watch her sister sink deeper and deeper into the ground after each stomp. Placing her hands over her Spark, the constant punishment endured by Virus was admirable but at the same time, foolish. Watching her sister beaten again and again took a toll on the young femme. Hopefully, Virus could survive this and end this… quickly._

"_Get… off me…" Virus warned. Her internal systems went haywire, trying to cope with the building pressure, and error messages. _

_The two mechs hovering above laughed at her dire predicament. Waving their arms in the air, the crowds cheered for the femme's termination. Shockblast continued to watch the femme struggling to move. Perhaps it was time to test out of his upgrades worked. Reaching down into a subspace compartment, the Decepticon pushed a glowing red button. _

"_This should get a bit interesting. Let's determine how much of a sociopath she can be."_

_ Virus froze. The engines inside her madly churned, forcing every gadget in her frame to go into overdrive. Her frame shook violently to the point the mech removed his foot. Shockblast pushed another button, switching on her invisibility mode. The arena erupted into panic. Where was the femme? Virus reappeared beneath one of the mech's chin with a blade impaled directly into face. Without hesitation, the femme forced the blade to exit through the front of his face. Although the mech wasn't dead, he toppled over onto his back, colliding with the ground. The arena shook. Virus wasted no time in heading toward his Spark compartment and madly tore through his chassis to reach the prized possession beneath; his Spark Core. Digging her maimed fingers into the compartment, Virus tore it out then stepped on it again and again. The core was crushed until there was nothing more than fragments of glass, metal, and energon pooled around her heels. _

_ Virus's frame slowly rose and fell. Her attention soon turned to the mech with a mace. Reactivating her invisibility skills, she went to work. The spectators, including Megatron, watched Virus tear into the mech, slowly dismembering her opponent as pieces flew in every direction. Shockblast continued to press buttons. With each button pressed, she screeched, accelerating her need for destruction. By the end of it all, the mech was hardly recognizable; he was nothing more than a puddle of scrap. She turned her attention to the rest of the arena, scanning for future adversaries. Turning her attention to the throne, her fists tightened again. He told her she was weak and useless, even after Shockblast and the scientists upgraded her, further maximizing her powers and potentials. She moved her optics to the rest of the arena filled with mechs. It disgusted her they all thought she was weak because she was a femme. Virus knew; if she trained and trained, she would be an elite soldier in no time and perhaps, recognized and feared by the rest of the Decepticons._

_ Virus remembered their words echoing in her audio receptors; they said she wasn't good enough. They said she was useless. They said she was a toy, a marionette, a doll. They said she was unable to understand the concepts of war. They said she was unable to comprehend strategy. She cursed them all to the Pit, watching each mech that once doubted her was forced offline by her own doings. It was only in due time she would extract revenge on every single Decepticon in the base, including Shockblast and his glorious leader. They would __**all **__fall._

_ Virus raised her blades in the air, signaling victory. It was over. Shockblast flipped a yellow switch on the remote control, forcing every fiber in her frame to overload, forcing her into stasis lock. Her fight was over._

"And that is the story of my sister," Sirus concluded with a sigh. The memories proved too much for the young femme. Thinking about Virus pained her too much. "I don't know what they did to her but she's not the same anymore."

Placing down a can of soda, Alexis looked up at Sirus. "I'm sorry you had to experience that, Sirus." Alexis then looked at her hands. "The Decepticons are nothing more than bullies and cowards."

"Affirmative."

"After the fight, I was escorted out of the Decepticon base blindfolded."

"Escorted? That sounds hard to believe." Carlos rubbed the back of his head trying to imagine Decepticons being 'nice' for once. No, it didn't actually work in his mind. Escorted and Decepticon really doesn't mix in the same sentence.

"I was surprised when I heard that, too. The mech told me it was Virus's request. He complained something along the lines of if he didn't escort her properly, Virus _will_ take matters into her own hands."

Sirus conversed with the children for another hour before returning to her duties. In the med bay an hour later, Sirus arranged Red Alert's medical equipment into drawers while her processors projected images of Virus. Placing down a wrench, the femme was unable to stop thinking about Virus, who changed over the past millions of years and unfortunately, not for the better. She remembered Virus was once a sweet femme but now, she was a monster. Sirus had to wonder; how many families on Cybertron had to deal with this? How many families were torn apart by war or by the prospect of victory? How many siblings were torn between joining Autobot or Decepticon forces? Sirus despised wars; look what it did to Virus… Suddenly, the alarm rang through the base. Everybody scrambled then assembled in the main computer room, looking at visuals and maps, pinpointing the next Mini-Con location. Their new destination was in the polar ice caps and the beacon was on the move. There was no time to waste; the Autobots hastily headed toward the launch gates immediately arriving on location. There were no Decepticons in sight yet which was good news but where was the Mini-Con?

Out of nowhere, a shot flew through the air, slamming into a glacier, forcing it to split in half revealing the Mini-Con. It was a yellow and orange Mini-Con hiding behind the block of ice. Confused, it jumped into the glacial water, transformed, and sped off.

"Come on, a little bit closer…" Cyclonus aimed his lasers at the Autobots, honing in on the Mini-Con. It was hard for him not to cackle. "Just a bit more!"

"Steady," Virus said peering over his shoulder. "Ready…"

"**FIRE!**"

Fraggit, Cyclonus! A giant explosion forced ice shards and blocks of all sizes raining down on the Autobots and Cyclonus and Virus. Thanks, Cyclonus. Every vehicle swayed and swerved every which way avoiding impact. And then they heard it, a whistle. Hot Shot quickly transformed into battle mode and aimed his gun at Virus, who landed gently on a patch of broken ice. She smirked, released another whistle. All the Mini-Cons, even the ones from the Autobots' side turned their weapons toward the rogue bot.

"Demolisher!"

A pile of ice exploded and Demolisher launched onto Hot Shot delivering hard blows to the head. Both sides were now engaged in heavy combat, pitting warriors against warriors. Scavenger and Red Alert were assigned to retrieve the frightened Mini-Con, hiding somewhere around an iceberg. Fantastic. Scavenger _hated _looking for things in vast open spaces. What was the human term? Ah yes, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Substitute needle with Mini-Con and haystack with below freezing ocean waters, he could say the imagery fit perfectly with his ongoing misery. Plus, he hated the cold. On the other side of the iceberg, two jets, Virus and Starscream honed onto the signal.

"Blast the ice," Virus said, pointing to the iceberg. "It's there."

No sooner said, fragments of ice flew in all directions revealing the Mini-Con buried beneath the debris. Starscream was about to grab it but Virus shook her head, she was going to take it. Reaching toward the small bot, she smiled.

"Hey little one, sorry for that, come out? You'll be safe with me."

"**STAY AWAY FROM THE MINI-CON!**" she wheeled around locking onto Scavenger's yellow optics and rifle, poised to leave a gaping hole in her armor.

Tucking away the Mini-Con into a compartment, Virus shrugged. This wasn't the first time Scavenger yelled at her. "Ah, no."

Then, she heard him sigh. "It seemed I've taught you a bit too much."

"Which was a good thing," she said, remembering Scavenger's lessons. "I've learnt a whole lot from you, old timer."

Then, there was silence between the two. The sound of gunfire echoed around them, followed by explosions erupting over water and ice. The two stood still, watching one another. What difference did it make as they stood in static silence, listening to the sounds of war around them? Scavenger was once Virus's mentor and she was once his pupil. The more Scavenger looked at Virus, the more he remembered a harmless young femme, appearing with her sister at the Autobots' base back on Cybertron. They were young and naive and full of life. But no, not anymore.

"Why?" he asked, summoning his voice. "Why did you leave us? Sirus was worried sick after you—"

Virus shook her head. "It doesn't… matter."

She booted her thrusters to full maximum, jumping high into sky evading Starscream's sudden aerial assault. Scavenger was hit hard on his back falling into the icy water below. Virus watched her mentor sink into the cold sea, watching as his frame sink foot by foot before the depths consumed him. Virus heard Starscream command her to retreat immediately; the rest of the Autobots were approaching their location, to engage in battle, and save their comrade. Virus watched Red Alert shoot at her, landing a solid hit on her wing before diving down into the ocean. The femme remained frozen, watching, thinking about Scavenger. She disappointed him again. Turning to the jet, she nodded then warped away, back to the moon.

_I'm sorry, Scavenger. I'm really sorry._

Back at the moon base, Virus broke away from the Decepticons celebrating their victory against the Autobots. Virus didn't feel the need to celebrate anything. This faction just gained another Mini-Con, that's all. Walking down the empty hallway, her mind was fixed on Scavenger. He was her mentor back on Cybertron, teaching her combat basics. It was under him she fired a high-powered rifle and landed on her aft. Charming. But, there was more to that; Scavenger looked after Virus and Sirus when nobody was around. He educated them about the Autobots and Optimus Prime's vision of peace or Cybertron's history when he had time. Virus remembered him quizzing her and Sirus about the things he taught; Sirus always aced the quizzes and Virus, well, not so much. However, when it came to combat or demonstrating moves, Virus was always the first to go, showing everybody else how things were done. She was not skilled with rifles the mechs used; she preferred using energon-powered sickle blades at her disposal.

Removing a short staff from a sub-compartment, she tapped both ends and the weapon extended, transforming into a fully functional staff. At the ends of the staff were pure energon blades, humming. Holding the staff firmly, Virus pulled it apart, again transforming the staff into sickles.

"You're still using that?"

Startled, Virus dropped the sickles. She turned around and saw Sideways leaning by the wall. "Primus, don't do that. You scared me."

Sideways released a soft chuckle. "I didn't know the infamous Virus gets spooked easily."

Picking up the sickles and dismissing the energon blades, she reattached the sickles, returning her weapon back into a staff. "Yes? Is there anything you need?"

"No. I'm here to check up on you. Have you heard any news?"

"Negative. And yourself?"

"Nothing. We're on standby until it's time to make our move. We can't afford mistakes now, not yet."

"I know," Virus said and leaned against the wall. She looked left and right. Turning to Sideways, she asked, "Do you like it here?"

"No. I'm surrounded by buffoons of all levels. I can't take any of them seriously. How they achieved victory this far is beyond my comprehension, don't you agree?"

Virus had to chuckle at the comment. "Agreed. But, at least, they're trying, I think. Though… I think the troops require a bit more discipline or at least, they should learn how to aim every once in awhile."

"Why don't you train them?" Sideways suggested.

"Sideways… They won't listen to me. They barely know me and I can't just go in demanding them to train with me!"

"You came here to gain their trust, didn't you? Another way is for you to help them, little by little. Help them with tasks and such."

"Sideways…" Virus whined. "No."

"Think of it as a test, little sister." Sideways pushed off from the wall and approached her. "Gain their trust. Show them that you know what you're doing and in due time, they'll start to depend on you and lower their guard."

Virus fell silent. She was beginning to not like this plan but she knew it had to be done. Her new task was to become best buddies with the Decepticons. Great.

"...Acknowledged. I'll do my best."

"Good. Now, why don't you go and recharge? Get some rest, little sister."

"Sure thing, Sideways." Pushing off the wall, she continued her path down the hallway and disappeared behind the corner.

Sideways fell silent, thinking about Virus's new task. Turning his attention to his youngest sibling, Sirus, he wondered if she would be able to convince the Autobots to trust her? Sirus was a poor negotiator and liar, by default. Virus knew how to lie but not as well. Nonetheless, the sisters were tasked to do anything within their power to gain trust with each faction. The mech was worried for both of them, but, he couldn't show compassion to either one. What punishments would he face if anyone found out he was directly related to Virus and Sirus? Shaking his head, he rather not think about it. Right now, his primary objective was to keep the sisters safe and making sure his plans remain unchanged until the time was right.


	6. Hot-Headed Hot Shot

**Hot-Headed Hot Shot**

"Scavenger? Sir, Are you alright?"

Young Sirus approached the older mech, eying his injuries and frostbitten armor. There were multiple scars landscaped across the metal surface presumably endured from many battles, including the fight that took place today. Scavenger and Virus did not engage in battle, and yet, he came out wounded while she retrieved the Mini-Con successfully. It bothered the young femme seeing Scavenger in pain and sitting in almost absolute silence. Since the Autobots returned to base, everybody dispersed like ripples of water, returning back to their duties. Sirus hated listening to the silence.

"Sir?" she picked up a screwdriver. "I'm going to patch you up, alright? Some of your fingers may lose their sense of touch for a while."

Scavenger didn't respond. Instead, he merely placed his frostbitten arm onto the table and continued to stare into space. It wasn't like him to be quiet. Sirus carefully wiped away the excess ice from his arm before using the screwdriver to open his arm panel. Perhaps it was expected to spot most of the wires encased in ice. But as dangerous as it may seem, it wasn't lethal. Getting to work, Sirus's mind cursed her elder sibling; how dare she injure her mentor! How dare she hurt the very mech who looked after them while they were orphans! It enraged the young femme. In times such as this, Sirus wished she was useful on the battlefield; she would do anything to gain retribution for all the pain and suffering her sister caused. Sirus knew one day she would need to face Virus in one-on-one combat, but again, she knew the outcome of that as well. The end result? Sirus would be terminated. It was depressing to process the thought; after all, all Virus cared about is herself and her superiors but not her very own Spark sibling. Sad, wasn't it? Perhaps that was the only solution left, she thought, pulling away several wires from their frozen-over nodes. Sibling bonds were strong, and once one sibling dies, the other sibling suffers for as long as their Spark could endure. It was a cruel way to go but if it meant ending Virus's madness, then it must be done.

Thoughts raced through Scavenger's mind, remembering his training sessions with young recruits and Virus. He blamed himself for teaching her too much and now look at her; she was a Decepticon, a proud Decepticon, nonetheless. Scavenger placed too much trust and ability into his protégé; he now realized he created a monster. Slowly moving his head to his exposed arm, his yellow optics scanned each ice-covered wire, remembering the moment the world barely fell silent as gunshots rained from the sky and explosions echoed around them. He remembered staring into her blue optics, questioning her actions: Why? What forced her to become a Decepticon? It made no sense. Perhaps he should have listened to his recruits when they voiced their concerns about the femme, how she craved nothing battle and bloodshed.

"I'm an old fool," Scavenger muttered.

"Hm?" Sirus looked up. "An old fool?"

Turning to Sirus, the mech said, "I placed too much trust into your sister. I taught her everything I knew. I created a monster."

"Please don't say things like that," Sirus shook her head. "My sister has always been like that. You shouldn't take it seriously."

"I have to, Sirus. She poses a greater threat than we all assumed. When I trained her, I never once witnessed any of her abilities up until now. I assume she was not pre-programmed with them from the beginning?"

The femme shook her head. "Negative. We were created as civilians, not super soldiers, sir."

"Then why does she have these strange abilities? Even by Transformer standards it doesn't fit the picture."

"I know," Sirus admitted, slightly frustrated. "When the war broke out, Virus fought for us with her fists and limited combat skills at the time. I can only hypothesize something happened during our separation and well, look at her now."

Scavenger tilted his head slightly. "Do you have any of the associated powers? After all, you both are siblings."

"Negative. I wouldn't label myself a warrior. I can't even use a rifle properly. The last time I did it, I torched Red Alert's lab back on Cybertron…" Sirus then smiled. "He wasn't too happy when he found out later on. I received his famous lecture!"

The comment made the older mech crack a smile. "Well, let's make sure that doesn't happen, shall we? Well, why don't you come along and join Hot Shot's training sessions? It would be good for both of you."

"Sir, Hot Shot hates me." Sirus dipped her head. "When he sees me, he probably sees my sister."

"He'll get over it."

Sirus closed the arm panel then carefully secured it with screws. She sighed at the prospect of training with Hot Shot (or as she'd like to call him, Hot Head). But, the young bot's behavior was understandable; after all, he and his fellow comrades were betrayed by Sideways and the Star Saber was now in the enemy's possession. Of course, things went from bad to worse when Virus joined them and well, things haven't been looking up for the Autobots as of late. She wanted to prove to him she was unlike her sibling, but it seemed he failed to listen to reason. Maybe in due time, he would come around and understand that all siblings were not carbon copies of one another. Well, it was easier said than done.

Placing down the screwdriver, she looked at her soon-to-be mentor. She was going to hate herself for this.

"Okay, I think I'll give your lessons a try," Sirus said in an almost defeated tone. "I do want to conquer my fears of using a gun. I can't be afraid all the time."

"Now that's what I wanted to hear." Removing his legs off the chair, he faced her. "We'll start training at seventeen hundred hours sharp. Meet me at the training center and don't forget to bring your box of courage with you."

Sirus smiled. "Understood, sir."

Watching Scavenger leave, young Sirus slumped over. Great. Just great. She was going to train with Scavenger and Hot Shot. Fantastic. Not only would she be Hot Shot's most hated villain, but she would also be under the strict supervision of Scavenger accessing her every move and performance. She could already see how bad this was going to turn out.

* * *

"Virus? Virus, open up."

Sideways' fist left the metal door after the third knock. Looking around, the mech made sure he wasn't followed. Sensing the area was vacant, he tapped the side of his helm trying to establish communication with her through their special frequency channel, and again, there was no response; not even static. Something was amiss. Hastily tapping the codes on the keypad, Sideways forced his way in, expecting Virus to gaze at the stars but instead, he saw anything but that. The femme had collapsed on the floor surrounded by the Mini-Cons. The smaller robots beeped with one another, trying to communicate Virus's condition to Sideways, who shoved them aside. Rushing to her side, he cradled her.

"**Virus! Virus, wake up!**"

His pink optics scanned the cause of her condition; it was a telltale sign she was subjected to her own faults. Virus's fingers and legs madly twitched, controlled by the viruses, forcing her limbs to move uncontrollably. One of the Mini-Cons named Tip-Tap quickly launched itself onto her arms to stop her from flailing, frantically urging to his brothers to do the same. The other Mini-Cons looked at each other and mimicked Tip-Tap's actions. It took the efforts of Sideways and four other Mini-Cons to restrain her but even so, Virus continued to thrash without a conscience. Sideways wasted no time pulling a cord from the back of his helm to connect with hers, transferring anti-virus programs and commands to reboot her systems.

"**Virus, wake up!**" he shook her a couple more times waiting for the anti-virus programs to kick in. Suddenly, the sounds of her systems rebooted, emitting soft whirling noises from within. Quickly disconnecting the cord, he gently laid her down and waited for his sister to awaken.

"Sideways?" Her optics flickered online. _Oh no._

"I'm not going to ask you happened. Let me guess: The viruses?"

"Unfortunately. The fragging viruses got to me before I was able to boot my anti-virus programs." She mumbled softly, cradling her head. It felt like someone used a jackhammer on her head. By the grace of Primus, it hurt badly.

"How many times has this happened to you?"

Virus fell silent. She didn't want to tell Sideways the truth how many times she fell victim to her own viruses. She was programmed to _use_ her viruses against enemies and _not_ succumb to them. Turning to her brother, she lied, "Five."

"How many times here?"

"…Twice." Before Sideways was able to continue, Virus continued, "It's okay, I got it all under control."

"That's far too many." Sideways said sternly. "Have you been in contact with Sirus?"

"No. It's too risky to call her out." Looking at her brother, Virus gently got up and sat upright. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Sideways, I'm not a youngling anymore. I can take care of myself."

Shaking his head, Sideways lent her a hand and got her back on her own two feet. She slightly wobbled but immediately stood her ground. Executing a quick scan, most of the viruses in her were contained… For now. The anti-virus programs ran at full capacity, and most of the harmful viruses were quarantined and were in the process of being terminated. Everything seemed to be going back to the way they were. Still, everything appeared normal until she realized Sideways was intently staring at her. Oh, she hated that.

"Yes?"

Sideways crossed his arms, "Get in touch with Sirus."

"Why? I'm—"

"Get in touch with your sister, _now_."

Virus placed a hand on her hip. "Sideways, if you didn't know already Sirus is sided with the _Autobots?_ You know, our _sworn _enemy? I can't just call her out to treat me, besides—"

"Virus. Do as I say. That's an order."

The femme fell silent. There was no winning this war of words. Virus hesitantly nodded submissively, acknowledging Sideways's request.

"Make no mistake Virus; I can't afford to have you or Sirus incapacitated. Do you remember our mission, don't you?"

"I do." Virus scoffed. "You don't need to worry about me, Sideways. I know what I need to do to get this mission done. I suggest you place your worries on our little sister instead."

Walking past him, she paused at the door.

"I'll hold you to your word, Virus. Don't disappoint me." Sideways spun around, drilling holes into the back of her helm. Sideways may be her brother, but he was still her superior nonetheless. Orders were orders.

There was a moment of silence shared between the siblings and Virus merely dipped her head and smugly smiled. "I know, Sideways. We're supposed to bring chaos aren't we? After all, we're Chaos Bringers. That's what we were created to do. If it's chaos they want, it's chaos they'll get."

* * *

At seventeen hundred hours sharp, the young jet stood in front of the large doors leading directly into the infamous training center. Behind this very door were strange Autobot contraptions used to strengthen their soldiers and maybe the worse of all? The Mini-Cons helped with their training sessions too! Sirus's hands cupped in front of her Spark; she heard from the children the Mini-Cons were tasked to toss obstacles to those who dared to challenge the course. The jet wanted to leave; she didn't want to be here! She wanted to drown herself in work! She didn't know! She rather clean up an Energon spill or something! Initiating semi-meltdown mode, Sirus tried to keep calm and soldier on… that was _if_ she had the guts to do it. Shaking her head, she reminded herself she was an Autobot! Taking a step forward, it was now or never! The door slid open, and the femme forced herself to take another (cowardly) step forward, she expected to dodge an airborne object of some sort, but nothing came. Tip toeing through the training center, she looked around for Scavenger, but the veteran mech was nowhere to be found. Turning a corner, Sirus encountered several stacks of metallic crates piled against the wall. Looking around, her audio receptors suddenly picked up on strange sounds coming directly from the crates.

"H-Hello?" she squeaked. "Is… Is anyone there?"

There was no response. Looking left and right, the femme took another stepped forward in search of the mysterious noise. Walking around the corner, Sirus tripped on something on the floor and landed firmly on her face. Whipping around, she was about to scream but instead, her blue optics landed on Scavenger's foot!

"S-Sir?"

The mech was unresponsive. Heck, he was in recharge mode! Sitting upright, Sirus frowned.

_Who would have thought the great Scavenger, one of the most feared Autobot warriors was nothing more than a lazy old mech? _The jet softly inched towards Scavenger and poked him with the tip of her index finger. _He's out cold._

"You know, you could have just awoken me,"

Startled, she watched one of Scavenger's optics light up. "I didn't—I thought you were fast asleep!"

"I was until you landed on your face."

Now she was embarrassed. "You… You saw that?"

"I wouldn't be a good teacher if I didn't know what my students were up to, now would I?" Scavenger's other optic lit up while he slowly sat upright. Releasing a yawn, he looked at her. "Alright, enough with the chit-chat. Let's get started, shall we?"

Sirus wanted her Spark to extinguish right now. She prayed to Primus to extinguish her now. "Um, I don't know any battle basics, sir. I can't even throw a punch."

Scavenger gently picked up Sirus to stand on her two feet. "When I trained your sister, she didn't know anything either. She acted on impulse alone and in battle, such actions would result in immediate termination. In combat, you require more than pure instinct; you need to know what you're doing before you do it. You need strategy, reasoning, and logic."

Gesturing the jet to follow, she obliged, walking behind him and listened to his explanations. It didn't take a genius to realize the mech stressed the importance of strategic thought on the battlefield. The information relayed to Sirus came from millions of years' worth of careful planning and execution. Turning a corner, she listened to him talk about his failures which almost cost him his life, but he further explained failures were life lessons if one saw it that way. Going up a flight of stairs, Scavenger recalled on a training mission he took Virus on back on Cybertron; the old mech wanted to test whether or not Virus was capable on the battlefield. She had already shown great promise in the training facility after slight tweaks and refinements. Today, he wanted to know if Virus was capable enough to handle her own in real life situations. Through his explanation, Virus was more than capable of initiating combat and taking down enemies swiftly and with accurate precision, but she lacked one vital component.

"What was that?" Sirus asked, stopping behind Scavenger.

"Her way." Was his reply. Turning to Sirus, Scavenger continued, "Your sister had a habit of getting too involved in battles to the point she lost her way, leaving her open to mistakes and resulting in getting attacked. I'm well aware of Virus's habits during combat, and that was something I tried working on but…"

Sirus shook her head. "It didn't happen, did it? She had disappeared before you were able to complete her training."

"That's right." Scavenger crossed his arms. "I tried warning her to not go into battle depending solely on brute force. In the end, her brutality almost cost her life as well as mine. Perhaps I thought, if I died, she could see her flaws in a pool of wasted Energon,"

Sirus frowned. Well, that was a cheerful end-note. Reaching their destination, Sirus frowned even more; her optics locked onto Hot Shot's frame trying his best to run the gauntlet with a firearm in hand. Sirus and Scavenger watched the hot-headed Autobot dodge and duck from incoming projectiles. Rolling out of the way, he lifted his gun unleashing two shots to the dummy and watched it rain wooden splinters onto the floor. Quickly scrambling up, he whipped around and fired two more shots at incoming drones causing them to explode mid-flight. Wheeling around, he delivered three more shots to the moving targets before he abruptly succumbed to his knees; the yellow mech failed to locate an approaching drone coming from his left. Cradling his midsection, Hot Shot wasted no time in delivering the hardest punch he could muster into the drone's face. Its metallic helm caved inwards and optics cracked from the forceful impact. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he delivered a kick so hard the drone flew and pancaked into the wall.

Sirus began to question her safety around Hot Shot.

"Remember what I told you just now?" Scavenger said, crossing his arms. "Hot Shot is now acting on pure instinct with the sole goal of terminating Sideways and perhaps, your sister as well. I've dealt with hot-headed recruits before, and you could say each of them have their own 'favor.'"

_Dear Primus… This is a bad idea…_

"Hot Shot!" Scavenger voiced. The young Autobot wheeled and instantaneously, locked his gaze on Sirus.

"**What do you want?! And what's she doing here?!**"

Scavenger placed a hand on Sirus's shoulder. "She'll be your new training partner."

"**What?!**" The two young bots shouted in unison. No, this was a joke! It's a joke, right?

"You both heard me," Scavenger repeated. "From this day forward, both of you with help one another train. I'll be overseeing your progress and reporting it directly to Optimus."

"**You can't be serious!**" Hot Shot threw his arm to the side in a fit of anger. "I can't train with this… this backstabber!"

"Excuse me?!" Sirus glared on the yellow mech. "That was rude!"

"As serious as I'll ever be, Hot Shot. Do you have a problem with that?"

"**You bet I do!**"

"I see."

Scavenger turned around, making his way down a flight of stairs into the vicinity below. Roughly shoving aside a dummy, the veteran stood in front of Hot Shot, towering over him. Scavenger's optics looked directly at Hot Shot's baby blue optics, analyzing and understanding the anger that fueled him.

"Give me your best shot." Scavenger challenged. "Or are you too weak to do anything about it?"

Hot Shot wasted no time throwing a punch aimed directly at Scavenger's jaw. The mech saw swiftly stepped back, watching Hot Shot's fist fly past him. Grinding his teeth, Hot Shot threw another punch, but before it connected with his jaw, the mech once again stepped back and reached out, swiftly grabbing Hot Shot's tightly balled fist. Quickly twisting his arm behind Hot Shot's back, he yelped momentarily before drilling several elbow shots directly to the veteran's midsection multiple times. He was about to strike him again until he was suddenly airborne, flying over the mech's shoulder and landed forcefully on his back with a loud thud.

"Anger isn't going to solve your problem," Scavenger said in a calming voice, "You've lost your way."

"**Says you!**" Quickly rolling on his stomach, Hot Shot scrambled to stand up. Curling his fists, he eyed Scavenger's midsection. Fine, if punching him in the face doesn't work, he'll punch his gut then!

"Of course." The mech took another step forward. "I've seen behavior like this before, Hot Shot, and it's up to me to correct them whether you want my help or not."

Hot Shot wasn't having any of it; instead, fists started to fly once again, aimed directly at Scavenger's midsection. As many fists that flew, none of them managed to connect. Scavenger effortlessly swatted away the incoming attacks and shoved his attacker a couple of feet at a time. He had no desire to beat the young bot into the ground today. Well, at least, not yet. Perched on top, Sirus watched Hot Shot raging on, trying his best to land solid hits on Scavenger. Sirus frowned; he was more successful at landing shots on the wall or on the ground, face first. Hot Shot even tried to swing his legs hoping to throw Scavenger off balance, but his attempts backfired; the veteran grabbed his leg, and before he knew it, he was airborne and this time, he slammed directly into the wall. Ouch.

"It seemed all my lessons were ignored," Scavenger commented. "I guess it was a waste of my time, wasn't it?"

On the ground, Hot Shot curled his fingers and swore under his breath. Trying to get up, he was then shoved back on the ground.

"**Scavenger!**" Sirus shrieked.

"Your actions mirrored Virus's when I trained her," he spoke quietly. "You both are fueled purely by emotion and instinct. No wonder you both turned out to be great disappointments."

That struck a chord.

"**Shut up! Don't compare me to her!**"

"In your case, you're the worse one, Hot Shot. You're fueled by rage and revenge, allowing it to cloud your judgment resulting you to fail in the simplest of tasks. You were trained better than this, soldier."

"**I didn't start punching you so I can hear your scrappin' lectures!**"

Hot Shot was out of control, fueled by rage and pending disappointment ready to burst from within. He wasn't stupid; he knew that he was propelled by rage to do what's right. He was well aware his words stung like venom, and his actions were justifiable at best. Hot Shot wanted the Autobots to claim victory so the war would end! Suffering loss after loss was unacceptable! This wasn't what he signed up for! The young mech blamed Sideways for his treachery and playing them all like a fool. He should have known. Grinding his teeth, Hot Shot pushed himself until he stood up straight and raised his fists against his mentor. Looking over his shoulder, Sirus's blue optics were on him. Their optics briefly met.

Shaking his head, Hot Shot launched another attack at Scavenger hoping to Primus his attacks would connect… And, it did. Sirus covered her mouth, watching Hot Shot's fist driven into the side of Scavenger's face. Everything decelerated as fragments from Scavenger's faceplate rained down on the ground. Five, nine, fourteen, then eighteen seconds passed by since the collision. The mech remained motionless and watched his Energon ooze out onto Hot Shot's fist, driven into the side of his face.

"**Scavenger!**"

Sirus leaped down from the balcony swiftly rushing to the mech. Sirus forcefully shoved Hot Shot to the side and without thinking, whipped out her gun. The barrel was directed at his face. With her finger on the trigger, she snarled, waiting for the yellow mech to make his move. She recited her next course of action in her mind, calculating possibilities and modes of attack Hot Shot were to execute. Her mind calculated nine scenarios executed by Hot Shot and out of those nine scenarios, her attempts to subdue him resulted in three victories and six losses.

"Make one move and I'll blast a hole through your brain."

"Sirus, stand down." Scavenger whispered.

Hot Shot carefully raised his hands in the air signaling his surrender. The rage that once flowed through his veins vanished and was substituted with shock and awe. Looking down the barrel then at Sirus, what on Earth triggered the femme to become defensive? Was it the fact he punched Scavenger in the face? Meeting her optic to optic, something inside the femme stirred inside her forcing her to act. Maybe, he thought, maybe it was a familial thing the siblings shared. Perhaps Sirus wasn't so different from her sister after all.

"Sirus, stand down," Scavenger repeated. "The threat is neutralized. At ease."

Sirus scowled and reluctantly stashed away her weapon. Shaking her head, she couldn't believe she turned her weapon at a senior officer. "I'm… I'm sorry, Hot Shot. I didn't… I didn't mean to do that."

Scavenger touched the side of his face. "Do you feel better now, Hot Shot?"

"Why?" He asked. "Why did you let me punch you? You could have easily avoided it."

"It was the only way you would calm down," Scavenger replied. "Releasing your anger on the field would get you killed so I thought it would be best if you released your frustrations on me instead."

"…"

Turning to the femme, he continued, "This applies to you as well, Sirus. Both of you have pent up frustrations and this exercise allowed you both to release it. Now, don't we all feel better?"

Then, he laughed.

"You really hit me hard, soldier. I like it! Next time, try to aim elsewhere?" Patting the side of his face, he winced. "Ow."

Now Hot Shot felt like an idiot. "Scavenger, I'm… I'm sorry. I thought, I just thought—"

"I know, I know. You were trying to avenge us from Sideways' treachery and mend the hole in your ego. It's written all over your face."

Correction; he now felt like a super idiot. "…"

Looking at both of them, he couldn't help but smile. "Remember, we're a team. We help each other through thick and thin, that is if you both can push aside your egos and indifferences to each other. Do you think you soldiers can do that?"

Hot Shot looked at Sirus. It was hard for him to accept her help because of her familial association but still, he couldn't discredit the fact she stepped up for Scavenger when he was threatened. Maybe that quality would be useful on the battlefield. Sirus looked at Hot Shot and tried to process Scavenger's words; to work with Hot Shot, she was to put aside her dislike—no, hatred—for her sister.

"I think I can do that," she piped up and extended a hand towards the yellow mech. "Can you?"

"I can," Hot Shot received her handshake. "Listen, I'm sorry for what I said to you. I really am."

She shook her head. "No offense taken. Anyway, I think it's good to start anew. I mean, we are in the middle of a war, and it's important we stick together to matter what. We're a team."

Scavenger's arms immediately looped around the two. "Now that's what I want to hear. Now, that your indifferences are shelved, would you mind helping an old bot to the medical bay? I think my face needs fixing."

"Sure thing," Hot Shot cracked a smile, supporting the old timer. Turning to Sirus, he asked, "Do you think you can help him too? He's not as young as he used to be."

"Hey, I'm not that old you know…" Scavenger muttered.

Like he needed to ask. Smiling, she held onto Scavenger and walked with him. "Sure thing, partner. Sure thing."


	7. The Chaos Virus

**The Chaos Virus**

It was nice to see the Autobots' spirit soar after suffering defeat after defeat at the hands of the evil Decepticons. The Autobots were on fire, rescuing Mini-Con after Mini-Con since they started acting as one unit. Scavenger, the veteran Autobot, was more than impressed, watching his two students tear the terrain apart and uniting to help each other. Hot Shot was beyond impressive, pushing aside his anger for Sideways and returned to being Hot Shot. Scavenger couldn't help but nod at the warrior's improvement; it seemed as if his lessons and teachings were useful after all. On the other hand, it was uplifting to watch Sirus slowly overcome her hatred for her twin. She transformed her hatred into focus and performed admirably on the field. Together, the two soldiers were in-sync and delivered exceptional results. He was proud.

Hot Shot swiftly rolled out of the way avoiding the mad chopper's ammo rain and fits of laughter. Slamming his back behind a boulder, he paused for a couple of seconds and retaliated with shots of his own, successfully connecting with Cyclonus's chest. The chopper squealed in pain as he spun around, and around, and around until he landed face first in a not-so-pristine meadow.

"Owie…" The chopper whined. "I got hit!"

"You think?" Virus materialized next to him and grabbed his arm. "Get up, blabber mouth. We have a battle—Ah!"

Red Alert landed a perfect shot on Virus's wings. Spinning around, she ground her teeth and threw two daggers at him only to have her airborne knives destroyed mid-air by Scavenger and Sirus. The young bot remained still with her gun directed at her sister's head. Virus snarled, and Sirus smirked.

"Move and I'll shoot."

"Good job, Sirus," Scavenger praised, delivering a quick pat on the back. "I have this covered; you go help the others retrieve the Mini-Con."

"Yes, sir!"

On the other side of the battlefield, Demolisher was locked in an aggressive tug-of-war with Smokescreen. Each soldier held onto the ends of twisted roots and in the center was a thick ball of tangled roots and a pulsing Mini-Con panel, ready to activate. The tank dug his heels into the soft earth, trying his best to overpower the pesky Autobot on the other end of the line. Pulling the root in a couple of feet, the tangled ball slowly inched towards him, but no sooner he thought of victory, Smokescreen yanked the ball towards his direction. Pulling as hard as he could, Smokescreen grunted; the panel was now just a couple of feet away from his fingertips.

"Just a little more!"

"Need a hand?"

Sirus swiftly grabbed onto the braided line and pulled. The duo pulled and pulled and Demolisher was beginning to lose his footing. Making one last final effort, the tank dug his heels deeper into the earth and pulled as hard as he could; surely, he could overpower Smokescreen and the femme? Wrong. As the Autobots pulled, Demolisher's clunky frame slid forward and deeper into the mud until the tip of his foot got snagged in a root. And then, everything happened in slow motion. Demolisher lost his grip and fell.

"Timberrr!"

Smokescreen always wanted to say that. Within seconds, Demolisher's face was on the ground while he spat out curses nobody could understand. Smokescreen hastily made his way to the tangled ball and released four shots to the knot. Reaching in, he grabbed the Mini-Con and gave Sirus a thumbs up; the mission was a success! Speaking into the comm. link, he radioed the rest of the Autobots the Mini-Con is secure, and it was time to go home. Without a second to lose, the Autobots quickly withdrew and returned to their base victorious.

The children were ecstatic! Running to the Warp Gate, the watched as the Autobots appeared one by one, each with smiles on their faces while others engaged in fist bumps.

"You guys totally kicked butt out there!" Carlos rejoiced, waving his arms in the air. "The look on their faces was priceless!"

"Yeah, good job guys!" Alexis chimed. She loved seeing the Autobots get their groove back. Turning her attention to Smokescreen and Sirus, she said, "You guys were fantastic!"

"Totally!" Rad added. "Now, we have another Mini-Con under our care."

"That's right. This week, the Autobots managed to save eight Mini-Cons!" Alexis beamed. "Eight Mini-Cons!"

Optimus had to laugh. "Alright, children I think that's enough. Any more compliments and the men might turn into a pile of embarrassment." Facing Smokescreen and Sirus, he said, "You two performed very well today." Then he faced Hot Shot, "You too."

Smokescreen rubbed the back of his head. "It was nothing!" Sirus couldn't agree more.

"Dah, shucks. Y'know, just doing my job!" The yellow mech replied.

Facing the rest of the Autobots, Optimus said, "Good job, everyone. Everybody should rest while they can; we don't know when the next Mini-Con signal will activate next. That's all for now. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir!"

Scavenger was the first to break away from the group and approached his longtime friend.

"I'm proud of them," Scavenger began. "I'm proud of Hot Shot and Sirus. They've improved leaps and bounds."

"As you should be," Optimus added. "You've trained them well. I expected nothing less from you, old friend."

Scavenger had to laugh. "Of course; I'm the best teacher there is on Cybertron. Training younglings and transforming them into soldiers is what I do best."

Then, Optimus stopped mid-walk. Scavenger wheeled around. "I wish we weren't at war." He said. "I wish there weren't any wars in the first place. Think about it; without wars, we would still be living in peace with the Mini-Cons and Decepticons. You wouldn't need to train anyone to become soldiers, and I wouldn't be sending troops to their deaths."

"I know how you feel, Optimus. Unfortunately, greed is a very powerful motivation and those with greed seek power and those who seek power, seek complete destruction and domination. It's a vicious cycle."

Optimus shook his head then faced his friend. "Do you get tired, Scavenger? Do you get tired of all the fighting? We've been doing this for millions of years now."

"I do," he admitted. If he said no, he would be lying. He was tired. He was old, but he still had the strength to fight. He had to. "But if we don't fight back, then everything we fought for was for nothing. You know as well as I do if we don't stop the Decepticons, they would enslave and conquer foreign planets, universes, and millions of lives would be put at risk. I don't think you or I are ready to see planets stripped bare or its peoples shackled and sold into slavery."

"No. I'm not prepared to let the universe collapse because of us. We already failed to protect the Mini-Cons on Cybertron, and I'm not going to let that happen again. I'll continue fighting until the day my Spark is extinguished."

Scavenger weakly smiled. Placing a hand on the Autobot Commander's shoulder, he said, "I hope that day never comes, Optimus. Until that day, we'll all stand by your side and fight for the sake of freedom and peace."

"Thank you, old friend."

* * *

Nobody wanted to be Demolisher, Cyclonus, and Virus.

"**Incompetent fools! Morons! Imbeciles! You call yourselves soldiers? You call yourself Decepticons?!**"

Nobody answered. Nobody answered especially when things began to fly, including space debris and warning shots. Megatron was angry, seething, enraged by the performance of the galaxy's deadliest combatants who failed to capture and enslave one blasted Mini-Con. They lost eight Mini-Cons this week thanks to their insolence and incompetence, plus their inability to follow simple orders. Was it so hard? Demolisher and Cyclonus looked at one another, each smothered in dirt, grass patches, and leftover compost. Cyclonus had a flower on his head. Virus remained silent, feeling less-than-glorious.

"Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"

"We're sorry, sir!" Demolisher voiced, falling onto his knees, begging for forgiveness. "This won't happen again, I promise!"

"**Silence!**" He turned his attention to Cyclonus. The chopper was fiddling with another flower stuck in his elbow. It was annoying. "Anything you would like to add?"

"N-No, sir."

Then it was Virus's turn. "What about you, femme? Would you like to share how badly you performed out there?"

"I have nothing to say." She muttered.

Crushing the armrest with his bare strength, a chunk of stone was suddenly airborne and headed towards their direction. Cyclonus immediately ducked for dear life.

"**Get out of my sight, you pathetic weaklings before I turn you all into scrap!"**

Demolisher, Cyclonus, and Virus bowed and exited the throne room without their usual pompous pride. Demolisher was the first to quickly lead the group away and also hoped to place great distances between him and the throne room. Cyclonus hastily followed and mumbled something along the lines of stupid plants, dirt, and the mudball called Earth. Cyclonus hated organics. He hated _anything_ relatively organic. What's worse, he could _feel_ the dirt in between crevasses and places where the sun doesn't shine or places he didn't think existed. Whining, he tried his best to shake away all the excess dirt in him, but he knew, it was still there, and it was grossing him out.

The trio reached the recreation room (but it's just a large room with literally nothing in it) with Sideways leaned against the wall. Paying no attention to the horned 'Con, the tank sat down and began repairing his wrist (and parts of his shattered dignity). Following Cyclonus closely, the femme walked in silently without making eye contact with her brother. Facing away from him, she slowly walked towards a vacant table and sat on its surface. She didn't say a word.

"That was pathetic." Sideways voiced. "I guess I don't need to point out the obvious, do I?"

Nobody answered. Cyclonus collapsed on the table and was completely knocked out and just like that, he began to snore.

"I've never seen such a sad bunch before." Sideways continued, pushing away from the wall. Approaching the tank, he spoke, "I didn't know all of Megatron's lackeys were such useless piles of scrap."

Demolisher stopped and looked up. "I didn't see you do anything today," he said. "While we were trying to get the Mini-Con, you disappeared into thin air."

"I had business to attend to." Sideways said dismissively.

"Oh?" Demolisher stood up now eye-to-eye with Sideways. "What's more important than helping us out?"

"Quite frankly, it's none of your business."

"I think it's my business if—"

Then, a crash echoed. Turning around, Virus was on the floor. Sideways broke away from the tank and rushed to her. Carefully picking her up, he turned to the tank.

"Well, just don't stand there, you dolt. Help me."

Hesitantly, Demolisher made his way to Sideways and helped him pick up the unconscious femme. What's wrong with her? Turning to Sideways, the mech was still.

"This is your fault," Demolisher voiced. "Maybe if you didn't force her to train for ten hours straight per day she might have been useful on the field! And we could have won!"

Sideways slowly looked at him. "Excuse me?"

Demolisher stood his ground. "You heard me!"

"Virus is a warrior, Demolisher. She's not a marionette who lays on her back all day." Turning to the femme, he continued, "She, like you, are programmed to engage in warfare. However, unlike you, it's my duty to ensure her skills are sharpened and refined to ensure the best chances of victory. But perhaps you're right; I may have overdone it."

"What are you? Her teacher?"

Sideways had to chuckle. Oh, Demolisher. If only you knew. "You can say that. Well, Demolisher, I have a proposal for you; I want you to join one of Virus's training sessions. Don't worry; I'll make it easy for you." That was a lie.

Demolisher was taken aback by the invitation and offensive comment. Feeling his Energon boil, he snapped, "Is that a challenge?!"

"Well, my friend. You are more than welcome to join Virus and me at the southernmost region of the moon in two hours' time. I'll give you the coordinates." Walking away from the tank, the drifter had to smirk beneath his faceplate. The tank was in for a world of hurt. Stopping at the doorway, he added, "Why don't you bring Cyclonus along for moral support? I'm sure that you'll need it."

The tank watched the drifter sinisterly laugh before disappearing out the door. Grinding his teeth, he clenched his teeth in rage; how dare Sideways assume he had a drop of cowardice running through his veins? That was unacceptable! Shaking his head, he'll meet Sideways and Virus alright, and he'll prove to them he's one of the fiercest Decepticons to walk the surface of the moon (and universe)!

* * *

Two hours later, Demolisher (the brave) appeared at the coordinates given to him by the drifter. Looking around, was this the training ground? He expected to see machines or something but instead, all he saw were several massive craters filled with monster-sized boulders and a vast expanse of barren land. Taking a couple of steps forward, the tank looked around for Sideways and Virus; strange, there was nobody here. Did he take the wrong turn? He did, didn't he?

"Hello?" The tank cupped his hands around his mouth and called out. "Anybody here?"

Suddenly, the tank was answered by the sounds of colliding rocks coming from the far east. Moving towards that direction, the sound got louder and louder. Standing at the edge of the cliff, he spotted Sideways standing at the brink of the crater with arms firmly crossed over his chest. In the crater was Virus, repetitively kicking a boulder. Kicking the rock again, Virus lost her footing and fell. Demolisher was surprised she was already up and functioning. Wasn't the femme injured earlier?

"Sloppy. Again."

Virus picked herself up. Demolisher watched her wobble before resuming her attack the boulder. Again, she lost her footing and tumbled backward, crunching her wings.

"Again."

"Sideways!" Demolisher leaped from the cliff and landed on the ground below, making a heroic entrance and all. "I'm here."

"Well, well, well. You came. I'm surprised you accepted my invitation and bravo, you came alone."

"That's enough, Sideways. Now, show me these training exercises." Turning to the downed femme, he said, "If she can do it, so can I!"

_What a useless fool._ Sideways smirked. "Very well. Your first exercise is to destroy that boulder with your kicks. Virus does it in eleven kicks; how many attempts do you need to beat her record?"

"Ha!" Demolisher laughed at the challenge. "Child's play."

Demolisher proudly made his way down into the crater to join Virus and two boulders. Marching to the large untouched rock, the tank touched it a couple of times, and sure enough, it was solid rock. Perfect; he'll show Sideways what he's made out of. Taking a couple of steps back, he cracked his knuckles and delivered one powerful kick. It didn't budge. Okay, this was just a warm up. Unfazed, Demolisher gave two more kicks and rock rewarded him with itty bitty spider cracks on the surface. Virus looked over to her brother.

_Sideways, you know he can't do it, right?_

_I know. Watching the fool try entertains me._

Demolisher was relentless kicking the boulder time and time again, exceeding eleven kicks. No matter what he did, the rock wouldn't crack! Cursing loudly, he resorted to punching the rock, kicking it again, then out of desperation, he bodyslammed it. The end result left him with dents on his armor rather than the boulder itself. Virus approached the tank.

"You should give up," she spoke flatly. "You can't do it."

"Hmph! If you can do it, I can too!"

"Demolisher, you're just going to hurt yourself."

He didn't listen. Instead, he returned to attacking the stubborn stone, chipping away its surface a couple of centimeters at a time. Virus frowned. Maybe it was time for her to intervene; the idiot was going to kill himself by beating up a harmless rock.

"Just… Stop." Virus said.

"No, I won't!" Demolisher punched the boulder again. "I will destroy this rock even if it's the last—"

He was unable to finish his sentence before Virus gave one solid kick, sending the massive stone flying into the wall then shattering into a million pieces. Facing the tank again, she frowned.

"Problem solved."

"I softened it up for you." Demolisher crossed his arms. "I could have destroyed it, you know."

She rolled her optics. "Look, I hate to burst your bubble, but you can't do what I do, alright? You just can't."

Ouch. "Says you!" Turning to Sideways, Demolisher barked, "I'm not done yet! I can still pass any exercise you throw at me!"

_Dear Primus._ Virus slapped her forehead. _He's desperate._

"You really want to get better?" Sideways sneered. "Very well. Virus, attack stance."

"Wait, what?" Demolisher turned to the femme. "You want me to fight her?"

"Sparring helps with improving your offense, defense, and reflexes, if you didn't know. It's been awhile since she sparred with anyone. I'm sure you accept the challenge?"

Turning to Virus, she was in an attack stance. "Don't mind me," she said. "Treat me as if I'm an Autobot."

Then, Demolisher noticed a trail of black Energon leaking down her leg and onto the moon's surface below. "_Black Energon? _But… But you're injured." He pointed out.

Ignoring his concerns, Virus shook her head. "Doesn't matter. As long as I remain functional, I can fight. If you were in my position, would you fight?"

"O-Of course. I would never surrender to an Autobot. I—"

Virus wasted no time in initiating the first attack with the sole aim of delivering a solid punch to the side of Demolisher's face. The tank saw the incoming fist and quickly stepped back, slapping away her fingers. It was only then he realized the tip of Virus's fingers were arched claws, and he suddenly had scars to prove it.

"Come on, fight! Prove that you're worth something!" Virus said. "Aren't you one of the top Decepticon warriors? Prove it."

The femme wasted no time in attacking Demolisher with her claws while her attempts were thwarted by him slapping away her attacks. Quickly distancing himself from her, Demolisher delivered punches of his own. He watched his fists fly and only one fist managed to scrape the side of her head. Then, he watched her duck with evil intent to drill a punch into the center of his gut. Demolisher quickly reacted, got out of the way, and delivered a solid punch to the side of her face. The sheer force of the blow forced Virus to fly off to the side. Swiftly, she rolled, skidded, and quickly gained her footing.

"Did I do that?" Demolisher asked no one.

His neon green optics watched as black Energon leaked from her nose. The femme to seem to have realized it and quickly wiped her nose. She returned to an attack stance. This time, Demolisher watched blades jut out of her arms. Virus took a step forward, then another, and another, optics scanning the tank's frame for visible weaknesses. As she continued to walk forward, he noticed something off with her steps; he noticed the slight hobbling in her movements.

Sideways silently watched. Demolisher faced the drifter then looked at the approaching femme. Without a second thought, he pointed his fingers at the approaching femme and quickly released a flurry of shots. The tank watched her deflect the rounds while at the same time, she absorbed the shots and maybe what's worse, she's refusing to back down. Parts of her cobalt armor caved in and while in other places, parts of her armor cracked, revealing delicate circuitry beneath.

Virus looked over to Sideways, he nodded. In response, she activated her thrusters and flew towards him at maximum speed. The sudden change in tactic forced an idea to erupt in Demolisher's brain; his optics focused onto one of Virus's blades and without a moment to lose, her right arm was showered with ammo. Virus reacted too late, feeling each sting from Demolisher's shots. She could hear each shot deflecting off her blade while other shots stung her right arm and face. Within moments, the blade snapped in half.

"**What are you waiting for, Demolisher? Attack her!**" Sideways called out, realizing the moment the femme was weakened and disoriented.

Demolisher reached out to Virus's right arm and with a tremendous bellow, he forcefully tore off the weapon's metallic encasing. Tossing it aside, Virus's howled across the barren land as she succumbed to her knees. Cradling her arm, she ground her teeth, feeling each receptive pain module scream in pain. Demolisher watched as black Energon pooled beneath her heels. Whipping her arm a few times, Virus pushed off the surface to finish what she started. She still had one good blade left in her left arm.

Fueled by pure emotion, he watched the femme target his leg. Quickly moving to the side, the edge of the blade skidded off his leg armor. Demolisher swiftly grabbed the blade and with one forceful twist, the metallic weapon snapped in half. Virus's optics widened. The pause was long enough for the tank to curl his fingers around her neck, lifted her up then choke slam her into the ground. Virus was defeated.

Demolisher never expected to hear the sound of clapping. Wheeling around to Sideways, the drifter was pleased by Demolisher's demonstration; perhaps he wasn't as stupid as he looked. He was dependable.

"Bravo." He cheered. "You completed the exercise. Well done."

"I beat an injured warrior!" Demolisher argued, pointing to Virus. "I could have killed her!"

"What difference does it make?" Sideways leaped down from the edge of the crater. Approaching the tank, he continued, "If she were an Autobot, you would have taken full advantage of the injuries."

"I would but—"

Sideways placed a hand on Demolisher's shoulder. "Stop thinking. You did the right thing today and impressed me; I'm not easily impressed." Sideways looked over to Virus's still frame. "You beat her, and that's all that matters. If you can beat her, you can beat anybody."

Was this supposed to be some kind of pep talk? "It's not right."

Sideways merely chuckled. Patting the tank's back, he urged him to take a walk.

"You are truly resourceful," Sideways began. "I honestly expected to watch you become space dust within five minutes. I'm impressed you lasted this long."

Demolisher silently listened to the drifter, trying to decipher if his words were compliments or insults. "Right."

"You know, it's hard to find good soldiers nowadays, especially loyal ones."

Demolisher stopped in his tracks. "What are you talking about? Of course, I'm loyal!"

"Of course, you are, Demolisher, and this team—the Decepticons—need you. Loyalty is what holds this team together, doesn't it?" Then, Sideways faced the tank. "But, between you and me, there are those who want to tear this team apart."

Demolisher blinked. "That's crazy! No one would be stupid enough to do that!"

"But it's true, _my friend_. You never know who might stab you in the back."

"What—"

Sideways took a couple of steps back, watching as hundreds of smooth red wires slithered across Demolisher's frame, into crevasses, and into his sensitive wiring. Trying to scream, his voice was lost. Suddenly, the tank felt wires moving into the back of his helm while delicate hands cradled his head. He heard the sound of soft whispers being spoken to him in the form of an entrancing song. The voice was soft, yet loud enough to sink into his processor. Delivering one final jab, the deed was done.

Falling to terra firma, Sideways watched the tank fall face first onto the moon's surface. Looking up, his optics locked onto hundreds of tiny wires floating in mid-air and behind those wires, was Virus. Tilting her head to the side, the wires speedily returned into a tightly-knit braid, leaving no trace of the sudden assault.

"What a pity." She murmured.

"Is it done?"

She nodded. "He's infected with the Chaos Virus. He should be easier to control from now on,"

"Perfect." Facing his sister, he said, "For a moment there, I thought he was going to kill you."

"He won't," Virus said dismissively. "Demolisher couldn't kill me if he tried. Besides, as tough as he looks, he's _never_ killed before. While he was distracted, I managed to steal some of his highly classified files, and many of them showed him beating Autobots to a bloody pulp but never killing them. He hesitates,"

"That is interesting." Sideways whispered, rubbing his chin. "A Decepticon that doesn't kill. Doesn't sound right, does it?"

"No," she shook her head. "But I think I know why."

"And why's that?"

"Demolisher has a 'family,' brother. He made a promise to a youngling named Lunar Dash. This Lunar Dash is not related to him, but he secretly adopted the youngling after he found her in a pile of rubble, unconscious next to her femme creator. The youngling suffers from amnesia and assumes Demolisher is her mech creator." Virus turned to face the downed tank. "They formed a pact, and she made Demolisher promise he would never take another life unless he had no other viable choice… What a fool. He makes me sick to my core."

Sideways crossed his arms. "I suppose he only joined the Decepticons to lap up the spoils of war to give it to this Lunar Dash. He is smarter than he looks."

"Give me a few more sessions with him and I can further corrupt him with the virus. For now, let's implant lies into his head, shall we? Let's force him to believe his precious Lunar Dash was murdered at the hands of the one Decepticon he respects the most. I say we call this a test run."

Sideways had to smirk. "You want him to believe Megatron committed the crime?"

"Precisely." Virus leered. "He's one of the key players to tearing this team apart and bringing chaos to those who crave it."

"Perfect." Turning around to face Demolisher again, he cleared his throat, "Well, let's get out of here before he comes to; there's a lot of work to be done with the rest of the Decepticons. Everything must go according to plan. Have you thought of your next victim?"

Virus nodded. Dissolving into static, the duo melted away into the moon's surface to plan their next move on an unsuspecting Decepticon cackler; Cyclonus.


End file.
